Online Public Relations Thoughts

The mayor of Minneapolis was on TV last night calling for action to control the spread of guns in the nation.  He was reacting emotionally to this tragedy.  But dozens of politicians have said the same thing and nothing has been done.  Is it all talk?

What happens when your expensive rebranding runs into a customer buzzsaw?  You either gut it out or you take a write-off and go back to the original imagery.  Cracker Barrel took the write-off. 

This is a court fight already underway and about to get worse if Trump federalizes the National Guard.  He is playing on public perception with troops in Washington DC that he is tougher on crime than Democrats.  Now he wants to expand that perception to cities around the US, notably Chicago.  The governor of Illinois is against Trump's threat, and both men will appeal to judges to make the decision.  We should know in days who gets the nod whether local control remains or authoritarian federal action wins out.  

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois got it right when he said Trump's threat to deploy troops to Chicago is "political theater." Trump is a showman without an ethical center -- a pitiful example of leadership.

The AI bubble is generating a school of skeptics who are asking, "Where is the cash?"  They are looking past the hype and watching companies spend billions with no return so far.  They are wondering when AI will generate returns of any kind to match the money spent on it or whether it will be a write-off in the future.  We've seen tech bubbles time and again, and they aren't pretty when they pop.  It takes time for new technology to be integrated into the economy and AI is no different, especially since it still has hallucination problems yet to be solved.  Communicators need a sense of reality about it and not fall for the rah-rah.

Putin says he must be part of any security guarantees for Ukraine, a definite non-starter for the embattled country.  What did you expect?  Putin believes he has the upper hand and the power on his side.  He is not going to give in until he gets what he wants.  Meanwhile, Trump is trying to appease him, which in Putin's eyes means surrendering.  Trump doesn't understand the situation at all and Ukrainians are suffering for it.  

One difference between some US manufacturers and other countries is a willingness to invest in aging plants.  Consider US Steel.  Its coke operation has needed modernization for decades and hasn't got it.  After an explosion, it is an open question whether US Steel will fix the plant or shut it down.  You can't maintain leadership by running assets into the ground.  Business for the long term invests money into production facilities and continually upgrades them.  US Steel appears to be operating for the short-term bottom line and milking its assets. No wonder it wants to sell out to the Japanese.  

Relying on AI to prepare court documents is lazy lawyering unless every fact is checked to prevent situations like this.  The same condemnation holds for public relations and any other job demanding fact-driven writing.  One should repeat while working with AI, "AI hallucinates. AI hallucinates.  AI hallucinates."  It is difficult to use because it can't be trusted.  The one positive side is there are more jobs for researchers to check facts, and there will be until AI stops making things up.  

This is just what Trump wants -- and opponent he can slander and triumph over when he wins.  It wasn't a smart idea to broadcast intent until Newsom is sure he can pull it off.  There are several steps before it is reality. 

The White House is attacking the Smithsonian and giving it 120 days to review its exhibits and get rid of language that Trump would deem inappropriate.  Consider this:  There was no segregation.  That was the construct of woke liberals.  There were no lynchings in the South.  That is unAmerican.  African-Americans have the same opportunities as white Americans.  To say otherwise is diversity thinking.  Japanese Americans deserved to be incarcerated during World War II.  They were terrorists and thugs out to destroy the country.  I could go on but I won't.  The Smithsonian takes great care to get history right.  Who is going to trust it once the White House is done with it? 

Facts?  Trump ignores them when they don't fit his propaganda.

In an effort to deport people faster, ICE is doing dumb things.  Thankfully, The New York Times caught them in the act and they backed off.  

The public is awakening to President Trump and his mishandling of the executive office.  The question remains whether their awareness will translate into the midterm elections.  

The Texas Governor has said that Democrats can't do anything to prevent Republican redistricting of the state.  He's ignoring the fact that Democrats have left Texas to stop a quorum for the special legislative session.  He might be right but he has to get the Democrats back to Texas first.  

When you fake economic data, chaos results, but Trump doesn't care.  

Backwards, ever backwards.  Generations will suffer because of this decision, but the administration doesn't care.