Rather then spending the nine-day Fourth of July break, which concluded yesterday, on hearing first-hand what constituents have to say, the WSJ reported Thursday that “scores of lawmakers” spent the period abroad.

During recent breaks, some lawmakers visited Iraq and Afghanistan for a day, then spent several days at other locations such as Italy.  Others headed for such exotic locales as the Galapagos Islands, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Virgin Islands and Jamaica.

The enterprising article by WSJ writers Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam took time and effort.  For the story, 60,000 travel records were analyzed that led to the finding that “spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995 and has nearly tripled since 2001.”

To accommodate globe-trotting lawmakers, the Air Force maintains a fleet of 16 passenger aircraft with the travel-tab picked up by the Defense and State Departments.

So-called fact-finding missions have been going on for years.  But the WSJ writers pointed out how such trips have been accelerating.

One wonders how many lawmakers actually carried notebooks and scribbled facts.

Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas last year at a cost of about $13 million, the writers tallied.  “Much of the costs are not made public, including the cost of flying on government jets,” they mentioned.

While official word on staff reduction is expected in a few days, The Wall Street Journal indicates Gannett will cut 1,000 to 2,000 jobs out of a 41,500-person work force, mainly from its U.S. Community Publishing Division that oversees local dailies.

The New York Times cites a former Gannett editor’s blog saying Gannett will slice 4,500 more newspaper jobs in the U.S.

The company’s U.S. and British newspaper divisions eliminated more than 10,000 jobs in 2007 and 2008, including about 2,000 layoffs last fall, reminds The Times.

Gannett’s first quarter net income, affected by steep advertising declines, fell nearly 60 percent from the like year-ago quarter, as publishing ad revenue fell 34 percent.  Second quarter numbers are expected mid-month.

What does this mean to the newspaper business?

The outlook is gloomy.

With rising local, state and federal taxes --- along with higher utility rates and other looming costs --- putting a squeeze on businesses and consumers, coupled with advertising budgets being trimmed or shelved, even more newspaper subscription and staff cuts appear likely.

Dwindling circulation means chopping ad rates.  That results in even less revenue, leading to further payroll reductions. 

From the editorial side, fewer reporters available to keep eyes on local and national officials, cover press conferences with tough questions in seeking information not contained in speeches or news releases, and other events that affect pocketbooks, will result in more sneaky happenings.

That’s another factor making editors and publishers uneasy these days.

It’s not unusual for the same material --- often distributed by public relations firms --- to appear in various publications, but a different byline gives the “syndicated” matter a new twist.

Editor & Publisher discovered the similarities and notes the column appears to have originated with the Financial Planning Association.

FPA, with offices in Denver and Washington, D.C., is home to a nationwide network of nearly 100 chapters.  Along with financial planners, members include accountants, attorneys, bankers, insurance agents, stockbrokers, money managers and investment consultants.

Apparently the raw material was fed to financial planners who merely put their names atop the text that ran in their local newspapers or Web sites.

For example, East Valley Tribune, Mesa, Ariz., ran the material on June 19 with the byline of Rebecca Warren, identified as a local financial planner.

The almost same text popped up six days later in the Huntsville (Texas) Item with the byline of “Brian Smith, Item Correspondent.”  Smith has been identified as a local financial planner.

E&P mentioned, “At least two other newspaper Web sites, those of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser and the Chronicle of Grand Lake, Okla., have been found posting the column, with credit to other writers.”

It added that some financial Web sites also posted the column, some of them crediting FPA.

The idea of adding a local name as a byline to canned material probably was welcomed by newspapers because of the growing shortage of staffers, especially in business sections, and it provided a way to spotlight local financial planners.

Such an idea is not new.

In the past, newspaper food writers, for example, put their names on recipes provided by companies manufacturing essential ingredients.  Editors did not raise eyebrows --- mainly because most never got beyond scanning sports sections.

That brought a public outcry, claims the Louisville, Ky.-based company.

Now, KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., reports that “while KFC is happy to confirm that Colonel Sanders will continue to represent the company he founded and built, the search continues for the ultimate KGC fan, who could potentially appear in future advertising.”

"While we've received a lot of interest in our search for the ultimate KGC fan, we've also heard from many passionate supporters of Colonel Sanders," says Javier Benito, KFC’s executive vice president of marketing and food innovation.

"We want to make sure that everyone who has an opinion on this issue has the opportunity to be heard, so we've decided to let America vote. The 'poultry polls' are officially open."

So through July 8, fans of the brand can visit the KFC Web site and vote on whether they'd like Colonel Sanders to be the only icon for the brand or if they'd rather see the winner of the KGC Ultimate Fan search be the colonel's counterpart, adds Benito.

That’s when Associated Press starts moving animal stories to fill the news vacuum until lawmakers return to Washington on July 6, notes Grumpy Editor.

First animal story out of the chute, in many newspapers yesterday with art, of course, covers the winner of the “World’s Ugliest Dog” contest in Petaluma, Calif.

Yes, the pooch is, indeed, ugly.

Pabst, a four-year-old boxer-mix rescued from an animal shelter three years ago, displays a prominent underbite, scrunched face and floppy ears.

The ugliest dog event, in its 21st year at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, brings a $1,600 award to Pabst’s owner Miles Egstad, 25, of Citrus Heights, Calif.

Footage of the show is scheduled to air on the Animal Planet network in the fall.

In the meantime, check out photos of toothy Pabst here.

Within minutes of the House action, Mark Levin --- who hosts a nationally-syndicated talk show and also is author of the current best-selling Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto --- on his Web site posted names of the eight defectors who voted for the bill that would require large companies, including utilities, oil refiners and manufacturers, to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels.

The eight wrong-way Republicans voting for the measure:  Mary Bono Mack (Calif.), Mike Castle (Del.), Mark Steven Kirk (Ill.), John McHugh (N.Y.), Dave Reichart (Wash.), and Leonard Lance, Frank A. LoBiondo and Chris Smith (all from N.J.).

The so-called “global warming” bill, which goes to the Senate later this summer, would result in higher taxes and a jump in gasoline and utility bills to consumers.

In other Grumpy Editor end-of-week leftover notes:

Negative reviews bring big box office.  Movie critics generally gave “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” sour reviews, citing special effects as bigger, faster and dumber, but Wednesday’s debut brought a hefty $60.6 million in ticket sales.

Elle edges Vogue in ads.  Women’s magazine Elle attracted more advertising pages than competitor Vogue so far this year.  First-half 2009 score: 970 ad pages vs. 956.

Times proves it can stay mum.  While the New York Times can’t keep a blackout on some developments considered sensitive by the government, it managed to keep word of reporter David Rohde’s abduction in Afghanistan out of its columns for seven months --- until he escaped late last week.

GM keeps ad agencies happy.  Even as it works its way out of bankruptcy, General Motors Corp. plans to spend between $40 million and $50 million a month on advertising.

Book deal for Saberi.  Freelance American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was jailed in Iran for four months before being freed last month, is working on a memoir that HarperCollins plans to publish next March.

So a tiny amount of newspaper space is saved in referring to chief executive officer as simply CEO and, with growing use in auto “green” stories, shrinking miles per gallon to just mpg.

Another Stylebook change, after all these years of copy editors double-checking dictionaries, is an adjusted spelling:  cesarean section rather than caesarean section.

Also new to the Stylebook is Twitter, the social networking Web site that limits messages to short Tweets.

In connection with business stories, terms debuting in the Stylebook include collateralized debt obligations, Libor, recession-proof, reverse auction, securitization and solvency.

On the sports side, new listings include knuckleball, timeout, tipoff, water sports and USGA (for United States Golf Association).

Online or print edition, AP brands its Stylebook as “the essential tool for writers, editors, students and public relations specialists.”

Of interest to broadcasters, the online version features audio pronunciation guides.

Now updated annually, the Stylebook --- first produced in 1953 as a stapled collection of rules totaling 60 pages --- has grown to more than 400 pages.

The new edition costs $11.75 for AP member news organizations and college bookstores, and $18.95 retail.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Grumpy Editor's end-of-week leftover notes now appear on Saturdays.

What’s more, one wonders how many lawmakers have read the weighty 932 pages of the energy tax bill from its authors, Reps. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) and Edward Markey (D., Mass.).

And interestingly, one also wonders why there haven’t been more editorials unearthing the taxing plan in daily newspapers --- where staffs and operations would be smacked by a tax boost, resulting in further cutbacks in payroll and production in efforts to maintain bottom lines.

While the bill’s name may sound harmless, like “taxes for the other guy, not me,” citizens should be aware that the bill’s passage means a hefty chunk of money will be picked out of every person’s pocket in the years ahead.

To put it bluntly:  The economic impact would be harsh.

The independent, non-partisan Heritage Foundation claims the bill’s passage would have devastating impact on average American families.

Its research projects that by 2035, we’ll see prices on gasoline increase 74 percent, while natural gas rises 55 percent, home heating oil jumps 56 percent and electricity soars 90 percent.

It would lead to a double whammy.

In addition, providers of goods and services, socked by higher energy prices, will have to hike costs to individuals and businesses to recoup what they pay in additional taxes.

Indicated total costs to the average American family via higher prices from the energy tax bill are seen reaching a stiff $71,493 from 2012 to 2035.

That should spur financially-squeezed Americans to contact their representatives in Congress.

A monthly eight-page newspaper, focusing on suspects, surveillance images and descriptions of crimes debuts in Omaha and what’s more, it’s free, a product from an unusual publisher, observes Grumpy Editor.

Don’t look for bylines.

There are none.

But there are plenty of color photos showing suspects in action.

The Omaha Police Department is behind The Crime Stopper, a printed effort to help fight crime and aid in capturing the most-wanted suspects in that region.

The free read is available at grocery and drug stores, among other locations throughout the Omaha metropolitan area.

"I'm excited about it,” says Police Chief Eric Buske. “It's new to this area and I'm very optimistic about how it's going to turn out."

It became the first commercially successful color film.

Publications delighted in Kodachrome film grabbing more attention than black-and-white shots as color made its way to covers of popular magazines such as National Geographic and Life, and onward to front pages and travel sections of daily newspapers.

Kodachrome now represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak’s total sales of still-picture films, relates the Rochester, N.Y.-based company. 

Kodak currently derives about 70 percent of its revenues from commercial and consumer digital businesses.

For all of its magic, Kodak says Kodachrome is a complex film to manufacture and an even more complex film to process --- and there is only one remaining photofinishing lab in the world:  Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kan.

But there still is some Kodak color remaining for photographers.

The company says current Kodachrome users are encouraged to try its “extremely fine grain” films such as professional Ektachrome E100G and Ektar 100.

On Saturday, a Sun editorial covered “Relief from heavy traffic” in the Las Vegas Valley by using bicycles.

Pedaling, as a mode of transportation, means going back in time.

Citing “bikes don’t pollute, take up little road space and help their riders become more fit,” the Sun suggested local officials “might be able to put a dent in vehicular traffic by considering bike-sharing programs.”

The only “dent in vehicular traffic” is via many current accidents involving bicycles and speeding drivers.  Many bicyclists, unfortunately, get more than a dent.

A Sun front-page article the next day (yesterday) focused on “Nevadans have more (car) accidents…and have the ninth highest (insurance) premiums in the U.S.”

The article pointed out:  “We have lots more accidents because we are often distracted.  We live in a 24-hour lifestyle…leading to tired driving.” 

And the Sun’s own editorial writers are promoting more use of bicycles on local roads?

Other factors that can lead to more accidents involving bicyclists in the Las Vegas area:  extreme heat with temperatures soaring over 100 degrees almost daily during summer months then below freezing readings on frosty winter mornings, periodic strong winds, hard-to-see-at-night bicycles with small or no rear red reflectors and no front lights.

Perhaps an upcoming Sun editorial will spotlight the benefits of returning to the West of yesteryear --- and old Vegas --- by using horses for transportation.  But check the metropolitan desk first.

That’s what happened Tuesday when Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh called the veteran senator “ma’am” in testifying before a televised Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in connection with the Louisiana coastal restoration process.

As the one-star general, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, discussed New Orleans, Boxer interrupted, saying:

“You know, do me a favor. Could you say ’senator’ instead of ‘ma’am?’ It’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I’d appreciate it.”

Seems strange that in her more than 16 years as a Senator (after 10 years in the House), the “ma’am” term suddenly irked Boxer. 

Later, an Army spokesman said there was nothing unusual with calling Boxer “ma’am.”   "Sir,” “ma’am” or “senator such-and-such” are appropriate terms when addressing a U.S. senator, he explained..

In other Grumpy Editor end-of-week leftover notes:

Obama names Brokaw.  Looks like NBC special correspondent Tom Brokaw no longer will have to flash a press pass to access the White House.  President Barack Obama named the veteran newsman to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Walled off from outside world.  In a reality show social experiment, CBS erected a 20-foot wall around eight homes in an Atlanta suburb.  For a program tentatively called “Block Party,” the families will be trapped within the walled area for about three weeks, aiming for a cash prize.  But, hey, they’ll be able to watch TV.

ACORN says “no” to Fox News.  Fox News wasn’t allowed inside the National Education Association building in Washington, D.C. Wednesday where ACORN's 39th Anniversary Gala Awards honored Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), Rep.Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.).  Schumer, who usually has something to say when a microphone appears, and Gutierrez snubbed Fox at the building’s entrance, but Waters said a few words.

Celebrity profiles fade.  Reader’s Digest reportedly is cutting back on celebrity profiles in favor of spiritual articles as the 87-year-old general interest magazine cuts its frequency to 10 months from 12.

Troops to ask financial questions.  Personal finance expert Suze Orman on July 4 hosts a special on CNBC honoring the men and women in the military.  Plans call for Orman to take questions from troops in the U.S. and overseas, focusing on financial topics such as saving for retirement and credit card debt.

3D magazine cover attracts.  Popular Science’s July issue features a 3D cover that allows readers to log onto the magazine's Web site and interact with an animated hologram.

A research report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers envisions a $25 billion drop in U.S. newspaper advertising by 2013 from its peak in 2005.

The figures are contained in PWC’s “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2009-2013.”

Lost revenue may be even higher than what is projected in the PWC report.  

Not factored into that research is the shuttering this month of nearly 3,200 U.S. Chrysler and General Motors car dealerships --- heavy display and classified advertisers in their communities.

Losing an additional chunk of revenue from the advertising side spells gloomier days ahead for newspapers.

With a number of proposed tax-raising measures --- affecting big and small businesses plus individuals --- in the ever-growing hopper in Washington, D.C., publishers and editors should be able to see through the fog and realize that with about anything that moves being squeezed for more dollars in the days ahead, less will be available to spend on advertising (including classified) and subscriptions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, fifth largest privately owned organization in the U.S., is the world's largest professional services firm, formed in 1998 from a merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand.

Readers of Tuesday’s WSJ front page saw at the bottom, left corner a chart and text in the “Vital Signs” feature on housing.

The pessimistic home builders line was based on input via National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index that measures home builder confidence.  It dipped to 15 this month from 16 last month.

“Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor,” the WSJ explained.

Then at mid-morning Tuesday, the Journal’s Web site proclaimed May housing starts jumped 17.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted 532,000 annual rate compared with April, according to the Commerce Department.

It added the increase was “much bigger than expected,” citing economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 7 percent rise to a 490,000 annual rate.

The pair, Mark Stern, 63, and brother Gary, 67, feel “there is a definite need” in a city where the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News on March 30 reduced home delivery to Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The Detroit Daily Press will be targeting older readers who prefer a printed newspaper rather than an electronic version.

“People are used to having a newspaper in their hand…that’s what we’re going to do --- provide a newspaper,” Mark Stern tells the Associated Press.

Among the brothers’ current tasks are seeking printing sources, office space and staffing.

The Sterns, who have previous daily newspaper publishing experience, say they can avoid financial problems because they won’t have heavy overhead costs such as delivery trucks, pension funds, distributors and press operators.

Mark Stern expects the new daily to start with a staff of several hundred people. 

The publishers expect to draw editorial personnel from seasoned editors and reporters who have been laid off.

These units, rolled off production lines over the past two decades, were prized gadgets with insomniacs.

Also going blank with the move to digital:  Small, battery-powered handheld (some able to fit into pockets) TV sets, especially popular with people on the move and sports fans in parks, yet too small for use with converter units up to 10 times their size.

Most radios that were able to pick up TV audio also contained AM and FM radio bands.  Deluxe models also featured short wave bands.

(In addition, going into the weekend, an estimated 2.8 million homes were unprepared to receive the new TV signals, according to Nielsen Co.)

Some side effects:  Lost audiences mean TV advertisers get clipped while news programs and other shows now have fewer followers, since much programming, including talk shows, can easily be followed with audio only.

Those that benefit from the switch in transmissions:

•    Cable and satellite TV services.  Many Americans are forced to switch to these companies to continue viewing their favorite programs.

•    TV set manufacturers.  New models receive digital signals --- without converter boxes.

•    Antenna producers.  Older TV sets, even with converters, may also need antennas, especially in fringe areas, because digital signals travel differently than analog.

•    Converter box makers.

•    Police and fire departments.  These will be among users of the old analog frequencies. 

•    AT&T, Verizon and others.   Congress auctioned off some of that air space to wireless companies for $19.6 billion.

His "Top 10" list Monday focused on the former Republican vice presidential candidate’s New York visit with "Highlights of Sarah Palin's Trip."

The eyebrow-raising items included "bought makeup at Bloomingdale's to update her slutty flight attendant look” and "an awkward moment" occurred at a New York Yankees baseball game when “during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by (Yankee third baseman) Alex Rodriguez."

Angry Palin blasts Letterman during the week via print and broadcast interviews, saying the joke about her daughter contributes to the "acceptance of abuse of younger women." 

She charges Letterman with “sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity” and says the late-night comedian owes an apology to young women across the country for his joke about her daughter.

NOW president Kim Gandy joins in later in the week with: "I think what David Letterman said is terrible, is inappropriate and nobody should be making jokes about the sexual activities of teenagers, whether they are the daughters of politicians or not.”

With that, NOW places Letterman in its "media hall of shame."

In other Grumpy Editor end-of-week leftover notes:

Another new long federal title.  The Obama administration appointed Washington, D.C. attorney Kenneth Feinberg “special master for compensation” to oversee compensation of top executives at companies that have received federal bailout assistance.   Media simply label his job “pay czar.”

Larry King does Sin City.  After 50 years in broadcasting, CNN’s Larry King makes it to the Las Vegas Strip with an on-stage appearance next Friday at the Encore hotel.  No, he’s not singing.  But he’ll recount tales and anecdotes from his experiences and 40,000 interviews.

USA Today to debut electronic version.  Gannett Co.’s national daily newspaper plans to introduce e-mail versions of its printed issues starting Aug. 3 --- at a cost slightly less than the printed editions.

Another electronic move seen.   Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chief executive officer, says, “I can see the day, maybe 20 years away, where you don’t actually have paper and ink and printing presses.”

Week’s least-covered story.  First Lady Michelle Obama and her two daughters separately fly from Paris to London and home aboard an Air Force Boeing 757 that, in commercial version, normally seats up to 239 passengers.

The problem is that with continuing print and broadcast newsroom reductions, fewer editors are willing to designate staffers to focus on shady happenings.

Perhaps inspiration will come from some of the speakers slated for the IRE Conference.

Among them:  Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, Donald Barlett and James Steele of Vanity Fair, Jill Abramson and Dean Baquet of The New York Times, Brian Ross of ABC News, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, Armen Keteyian and Byron Pitts of CBS News, and David Simon, Baltimore journalist and creator of “The Wire.”

The conference also offers attendees tips, advice and strategies in gathering material.  Panels focus on the economic meltdown, new-media strategies, nonprofit journalism and investigative techniques.

"With the challenges facing the news media today, the expected attendance is a testament to the incredible commitment of the nation’s investigative journalists and to the unique training opportunities offered at the IRE Conference,” says Cheryl Phillips of The Seattle Times and president of nonprofit IRE, formed in 1975.

Going the “shared” route (called “local news service” in the trade) next Monday are three Los Angeles stations --- Fox's KTTV, NBC's KNBC and Tribune's KTLA.

Then, starting June 22, four New York stations jump into the “pool”:  Fox’s WNYW, NBC’s WNBC, Tribune’s CW affiliate WPIX and CBS’s WCBS.  In addition, WNYW and WNBC will continue to share aerial news footage.

While the stations share raw video at general news events, each operates independently.  Thus, viewers clicking on different stations see similar shots of happenings --- ranging from fires to news conferences --- from the same position.  Only difference is separate voices reporting on the pooled events.

Chicago last month joined in the video-sharing cooperative.  Participating in the Windy City are NBC-owned WMAQ, Fox-owned WFLD, CBS-owned WBBM and Tribune-owned WGN.  WMAQ and WFLD, since early this year, already share aerial coverage via the same helicopter.

Another planned video-sharing plan in Hartford, Conn., involves the Hartford Courant and TV stations Fox affiliate WTIC and CW affiliate WTXX, all Chicago-based Tribune properties.  The Hartford arrangement calls for news programs to be telecast from a high-definition studio in the newsroom of The Courant.

Other markets with shared video include Atlanta, Tampa, Detroit, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

Back on March 17, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, ventured across the Tumen River that forms the border between Russia, China and North Korea.

They were accompanied by a cameraman and a local guide. 

The two women, seeking material for San Francisco-based Current TV, were arrested by North Korean troops but the cameraman and local guide --- escaped.

The journalists were accused of illegal entry and “hostile acts.”

Silent, at least publicly since the two were detained, was former Vice President Al Gore, founder and chairman of Current TV.  Some discussion out of the U.S. State Department last Thursday mentioned the possibility of Gore going to Pyongyang to negotiate the release of the two on his payroll.

With trial results made public yesterday, a Gore spokesperson said the former vice president had no comment.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Obama administration said it would pursue “all possible channels” in seeking the journalists’ release.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the verdict.

One thing the Obama administration was seriously considering:  Putting North Korea back on the U.S. list of nations sponsoring terrorism.

But that doesn’t sound like it will spur the rogue communist nation into early release of the journalists.

The publicity generator isn’t even a public relations person.

It’s a (ready for this?) white rooster, named Mr. Clucky, noted for riding around the South Beach area of Miami Beach perched on his owner’s red bicycle, discovers Grumpy Editor.

Tourists haul out cameras and click away at the bicycle-riding fowl.

Making headlines, especially on-the-hour radio newscasts yesterday on ABC and CBS, was word that the city cited the celebrity bird because of what he does naturally every morning:  He crows.

A code enforcement officer ticketed the bird’s owner, Mark Buckley for keeping a farm animal in his home.  The rooster-keeper faces a $50 fine and an order to get rid of the bird.

“I’ve got nothing against the city,” declared Buckley.  “It’s just somebody trying to take down a happy little rooster.”

The publicity-generating bird isn’t a newcomer.  Buckley, a 54-year-old construction worker, rescued the battered rooster from the streets more than two years ago.

Someone, probably a neighbor, complained about the rooster crowing every morning.  The city thus investigated and also uncovered another bird living with Mr. Clucky --- a female black hen named Wallflower.

Mr. Clucky isn’t the usual rooster.  The bird served as grand marshal in last fall’s King Mango Strut annual parade in nearby Coconut Grove.

Furthermore, the rooster has his own Web site where you’ll be greeted by his crow.

The question now:  Will Miami Beach ruffle some feathers in forcing Mr. Clucky to move out?  Or will the city overlook that natural morning crowing and, if necessary, design soundproof quarters for the community’s spokesbird?

After all, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, detained since March 17, work for San Francisco-based Current TV where Gore is founder and chairman. 

No public word from Gore on the negotiations suggestion, brought up at the State Department on Thursday, but he earlier was reported to have contacted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking for her assistance.

Now, if the two journalists --- seeking to interview North Korean defectors --- had been gathering information on global warming, Gore perhaps would have moved swiftly to seek their release.  (See earlier details, June 2, below.)

In other Grumpy Editor end-of-week leftover notes:

Important date in history.  Today marks the 65th anniversary of World War II’s D-Day that saw landings in Normandy, France, involving 150,000 Allied military personnel, including 73,000 Americans.

Score card on president’s words.  The Wall Street Journal tallied frequency of some words used by President Barack Obama in a Thursday speech directed to the Islamic world:  Muslim/Islam used 70 times; terror/terrorism, zero.

Funny bit kicks off Conan O'Brien in L.A.  Much planning and effort went into opening footage of The Tonight Show on NBC as Conan O’Brien debuted as host Monday night.  In citing the effort with a move to Los Angeles, cameras recorded difficulty in hailing a New York cab.  So, attired in suit and tie, O’Brien decided to run, sprinting to Chicago and Wrigley Field, past the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, then on to the Rockies, through the desert to Las Vegas and finally arriving at the locked door to his new Universal City NBC studios --- only to realize he’d left his keys in New York.

Time for Mexicans to explore Mexico.  Mexico Tourism Board plans to spend $92 million on efforts to promote tourism with “Vive Mexico,” a national campaign --- aimed specifically at Mexicans.

Radio & Records folds.  Nielsen Business Media shuttered Radio & Records, a weekly newspaper providing radio and recording industries with news, sales, marketing innovations and airplay data.  Some of the coverage moves to Billboard, a sister publication.

Five magazines change hands.  Bonnier Corp., New York, acquired five magazines from Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.: Popular Photography, Flying, Boating, Sound & Vision and American Photo. The titles bring to nearly 50 Bonnier’s collection that includes Popular Science, Saveur, Parenting, Field & Stream and a number of marine publications.  Bonnier Corp.'s parent is Bonnier Group, a 200-year-old media company based in Stockholm, with operations in more than 20 countries.

Based on a study of 400 people 18 to 25 years old, 61 percent place the Internet at the top of the “used a lot” list for economic news.  Television attracts 47 percent, newspapers and radio lure 30 percent, and financial magazines draw 5 percent.

The study, from Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, is based on interviews conducted by Behavior Research Center Inc., Phoenix.

Almost half of those interviewed say they made decisions --- buying less, saving more, delaying going to college --- in the past year based on economic news.

As for the most trustworthy sources of information on the economy and money, according to the study, Internet rates the highest at 27 percent, closely followed by television with 26 percent, then newspapers with 19 percent, radio with 10 percent and magazines, 4 percent.

Noteworthy, too, is that 5 percent say they don’t trust any of them.

Inquiring reporters, especially business writers, merely have to check out the Shreveport (La.) Times to discover a Bobbie J. Clark story that notes the local GM plant, where the Hummer is produced, is “down to one shift and about 1,100 employees,” compared with three shifts and more than 3,000 employees two years earlier.

That indicates major media were fed --- and ran with --- two-year-old payroll figures.

Furthermore, there is a question on whether the Hummer facility will stay in Shreveport beyond next year even if overseas Hummer production from a plant in South Africa is moved to Louisiana.

“Details about when the transfer (to the Chinese) will take place, the possibility of more employees at the Shreveport plant and what happens after 2010 were not divulged,” reports Clark.

The Chinese company, which manufactures construction machinery, dump trucks and highway-to-bridge components, expects to close the sale by the end of the third quarter.

The little-known company is based in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.

Talk radio is buzzing today on this aspect, citing only Fox News has been in the forefront with extensive coverage.

Army Pvt. William Long of Conway, Ark., died after being shot and a fellow Army recruiter was injured.

Police arrested a recent convert to Islam, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, shortly after the shootings in a West Little Rock shopping center. He told investigators he was angry at the U.S. military for past actions against Muslims.

Callers to talk show hosts ask why there has been no statement from the White House on a day when President Barack Obama was visiting Saudi Arabia and noting the president plans to speak to the Muslim world tomorrow in Cairo, Egypt.

In addition, media --- usually eager in seeking links to a happening --- are rather silent on following up on reports that the FBI had been investigating the alleged shooter after officials learned he had been detained in Yemen for possessing a fake Somali passport.

However, Associated Press did some digging and this afternoon reports a joint FBI-Homeland Security intelligence assessment on the suspect obtained by the news agency says officers found maps to Jewish organizations, a child care center, a Baptist church, a post office and military recruiting centers in the southeastern U.S., New York and Philadelphia.

That is what’s happening at banks cited in a Monday Wall Street Journal story by Ellen E. Schultz.

Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp, when contacted by Schultz, both (through public relations spokespersons) say they are required by law to honor garnishment orders.

True, they are going by the book.  But some common sense should be factored in before freezing accounts which then don’t allow the affected bank customers to pay for essential items --- and lawyers to fight the procedure.

The problems stem from Social Security direct deposits.

The WSJ story cites a Macon, Ga., disabled couple whose only income comes from Social Security benefits.  Schultz notes “Bank of America turned over all the benefits, some of which they set aside for their burial, to a debt collector pursuing a debt from the mid-1990s.”

In another case, Schultz mentions U.S. Bancorp seized Social Security survivor benefits of two children in Kalispell, Mont., for a creditor. “The benefits are the family’s primary source of income, following the death of the children’s father in 2007,” she points out.

On top of that and unaware the account was frozen, the children’s mother, using a debit card for transactions, gets nicked for an insufficient fund fee and other charges that created a negative balance.

The frozen account also prevents access to a $250 U.S. Treasury stimulus deposit last month via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

As Schultz explains:  “Federal law says creditors can’t take Social Security, disability, veterans’ and children’s survival benefits to pay debt.  But the federal law doesn’t say how money deposited directly into bank accounts is to be protected.”

Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, and Euna Lee, a Korean-American, were detained by North Korean troops March 17 after they apparently ventured across the Tumen River that forms the border between Russia, China and North Korea.

The duo, employees of Web-based Current TV, had hoped to interview North Korean defectors. Current TV describes itself as a global cable and satellite TV network.

North Korean state media earlier said Ling and Lee stand accused of illegal entry and “their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements, according to the results of intermediary investigation conducted by a competent organ.”  The charges could carry up to 10 years in prison.

An interesting, not pursued, angle for U.S. media on this is that San Francisco-based Current TV’s founder and chairman is former Vice President Al Gore. 

In April the State Department said it is making every diplomatic effort to free the two women while Gore was reported to have contacted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking for her assistance.

Somewhat puzzling, in seeking latest information from a prime source, is a search by names of the detained staffers on Current TV’s Web site yields “no results.”