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December 28, 200750 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007
You can divide groups of people in many ways. The Blue/Red divide in the US in 2008 is probably going to ruin more friendships in the social media space than we know. But --- whatever -- when bored at parties, I like to slice and dice ... and I am not alone here, right?.. by asking "Who here thinks Paris Hilton, Mike Huckabee and Nicolas Sarkozy are not useless twits?" (Please, feel free to fill in your own celebrities). It's a fun party trick, because you can spontaneously create a half dozen or so equally loathsome groups trying sort themselves out. It's not the majesty of the Red Sea parting, but I ain't Moses, so... But the Beast goes a step further: it lists the 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007. This isn't a fun list. In fact, you are on it: 9. You Charges: You believe in freedom of speech, until someone says something that offends you. You suddenly give a damn about border integrity, because the automated voice system at your pharmacy asked you to press 9 for Spanish. You cling to every scrap of bullshit you can find to support your ludicrous belief system, and reject all empirical evidence to the contrary. You know the difference between patriotism and nationalism -- it's nationalism when foreigners do it. You hate anyone who seems smarter than you. You care more about zygotes than actual people. You love to blame people for their misfortunes, even if it means screwing yourself over. You still think Republicans favor limited government. Your knowledge of politics and government are dwarfed by your concern for Britney Spears' children. You think buying Chinese goods stimulates our economy. You think you're going to get universal health care. You tolerate the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques." You think the government is actually trying to improve education. You think watching CNN makes you smarter. You think two parties is enough. You can't spell. You think $9 trillion in debt is manageable. You believe in an afterlife for the sole reason that you don't want to die. You think lowering taxes raises revenue. You think the economy's doing well. You're an idiot. Exhibit A: You couldn't get enough Anna Nicole Smith coverage. Sentence: A gradual decline into abject poverty as you continue to vote against your own self-interest. Death by an easily treated disorder that your health insurance doesn't cover. You deserve it, chump. Let me know what you think. Via Pharyngula Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:16am in Bizarre but Expected, In Defense of Elitism, People of Note | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3) | TrackBack (1) March 08, 2007David Cameron blog... not a bad thing!
Via Simon Collister comes news of David Cameron's new blog. Cameron is the leader of Britain's Conservative Party, a party that has often appealed to the traditional, frumpy side of the UK. Because of the party, I expected to find a "blog-like website" with crafted position papers and fluff. Well, I was happily surprised. Cameron writes his own stuff, seemingly without staff influence. He Vlogs from the train ("Europe should stop picking fluff out of their navel!") and airport. Suggests that Gordon Brown "should get out more." The comments are lively, too. I will be curious to see if he can keep it up through the next General Election. But I already like his site far better than those of any of the US presidential candidates. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:53pm in People of Note, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) April 30, 2006Robert Reich, former US Labor Secretary, kicks off blog by roasting PR pracitioner
Robert Reich, former US Secretary of Labor, started a blog three weeks ago. After a sort of rambling first post, he used the second post to rip GM's PR agency for trying to bribe him: "I just got off the phone with a guy who works in public affairs for
General Motors, asking me if I'd say publicly on the radio and TV that
GM's buyback deal for GM workers (GM will give a certain lump sum of
money to any worker who voluntarily quits) is a good deal for workers,
and promising a sum of money for me if I did so. I told him I'd say
nice things about the deal if I thought the deal was good and I'd
condemn it if I thought the deal was bad, and I wouldn't take a dime.
Frankly, I was offended that GM or anyone would think my opinion was
for sale. It's bad enough the Administration pays Armstrong Williams
and other columnists to support White House policy. Now, apparently
corporate America is paying pundits to shill for them." The New York Times picked up the story and identifies the blot on our profession as one Richard Strauss of Strauss Radio Strategies. Strauss calls himself "the nation's premier expert on radio public relations." According to the Times, Strauss blew off the accusation by Reich: "I may have mentioned the possibility of an honorarium" to Mr. Reich "out of
deference and respect to him and his position." Reich is still hasn't gotten his bloggin sea-legs yet... no RSS feed, no trackbacks, and really poor formatting ... but when smart guys like Reich blog, I can overlook baby steps. Hat tip to Mike at Forward for tipping me off. Update: Shel Holtz had a take on it, too, which I hadn't read when I posted. Technorati Tags:
robert reich, richard strauss, bribery, ethics, general motors Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:38pm in Ethics, People of Note, Politics, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) October 04, 2005Harriet Miers is Blogging!
The humor may fade quickly, but so far it's a hoot. Hat tip to Catallarchy, via Political Calculations, via Drakeview, via BNET. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:43am in Bizarre & Amusing, Current Affairs, Humor, Law, People of Note, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) September 23, 2005Sanctimony, not Kate Moss, Source of Fashion PR Headaches
For my first post on the MarComBlog (which I talked about yesterday), I've chosen to look at why any PR damage suffered by fashion houses in the Kate Moss affair is largely self-inflicted.
Here's an excerpt. The headline takes you to the full post at the MarComBlog.
September 23rd, 2005 by Allan Jenkins Kate Moss, supermodel, mom, poster-child for the waif look is presumably giving PR folks across the fashion industry sleepless nights. If
you're following the story, Moss was recently photographed dividing
lines of cocaine in a dressing room, then enjoying a few of them
herself. I don't know for whose coin she was working, or even if she
was on the job, but her clients — department store chain Hennes &
Mauritz, and fashion houses Burberry's, Chanel, Dior and Vanderbilt —
have dropped her. She will no longer represent them, and that's a big
chunk of Moss' £7 million salary gone. At 31, Moss is no "new face", as
they say, and, anyway, the heroin chic look is out. Friend and fellow MarComBlog Contributor Neville Hobson suggests on his Nevon blog
that this presents a PR dilemma for high profile companies: what do you
do when your A-list celebrity star self-destructs in public? I
agree: the Moss affair presents H&M, Vanderbilt et al. with a PR
dilemma. But I'd go so far as to say it's largely, even mostly, one of
their own making.... Excerpt crossposted from my full post Sanctimony, Not Kate Moss, Source of Fashion PR Headaches at MarComBlog. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:03pm in Advertising, Current Affairs, Management, MarComBlog, Marketing, People of Note, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0) September 12, 2005Sad Days for the Blues: Gatemouth Brown and R. L. Burnside Hang It Up For Good
We blues fans are having a bad month. Not only is one of the great blues cities devastated. Today comes news of the death of Gatemouth Brown, one of the truly great ones. I heard him a few years ago and was entranced because his music was such a sweet mashup of blues, country-blues, blues-rock, country-rock. He might as well as hung a sign over the stage: Abandon hope, sniveling purists! Brown escaped New Orleans just before the storm. Dying of cancer, learning that his house and all of his career memorabilia were destroyed, he gave up the ghost. That was bad enough. Then I open an email from friend Tom giving me his review of the Bull Durham Blues Festival, in which he obliquely mentions that R. L. Burnside has died. Technorati tags: gatemouth
rlburnside
blues
Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:30am in Music, People of Note, South | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) August 24, 2005"You're the Boss and You Can Use the Blog for Whatever Damn Thing You Like"
From our Blogging Politicians Who May Not Be Getting It office comes the strange and wonderful news that Washington, DC mayor Anthony "Tony" Williams is blogging. Tony is getting off to a slow start. He made his first post on August 15th then went silent for a few days. Comments -- 44 -- piled up. Most were friendly. Some were pointed, though not barbed. Williams never responded. You have ask yourself, what sort of blogging advice is this man getting? Of course, we saw the same thing at the IABC Chairman's Blog last winter, so it's probably unfair to hang Williams out when professional communicators don't immediately get it. Williams reappeared on the 22nd with a snappy little post that -- and I may just be imagining this -- showed a twitch of irritation (and, as you read, remember that he's up for re-election next year): "...the blog is not a service request line. Then again, I’m a public
servant and you’re the boss and you can use blog for whatever damn
thing you like. And you can expect me to refer service requests to the
proper agencies for disposition. I’ll also give you a comment on the
policy implications of your request. You say jump and I’ll ask how
high.
Heh, heh... Well, one thing's for sure: no hack or handler is writing the Mayor's blog. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:34pm in Bloggers, Communication, People of Note, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) May 26, 2005Ismail Merchant Gave Me My Comfort Food
Ismail Merchant, film producer and half of the Merchant-Ivory film collaboration, died yesterday, as reported here and elsewhere. I wasn't a great fan of his films. But his films were often the exceptions that prove the rule "The book is always better than the film." I cannot imagine how Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Remains of the Day could have been brought to film more skillfully. But, for me, Ismail Merchant will always be the cookbook author who refined my love for and skills in making traditional Indian dishes. His Passionate Meals is in near tatters on my bookshelf, and several of his recipes -- Red Lentil Soup, and Kicheri, among them -- I've modified, played with, adulterated and loved so much that they are staples in my kitchen. Dinner after a client meeting where I didn't get the project... or after a client meeting when I did get the project: Nothing better than Ismail Merchant's Red Lentil Soup. Ideally, with The Remains of the Day on video. Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:45pm in Books, Food and Drink, People of Note | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0) |
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Well, not really. But within hours of Miers' nomination to be Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, some enterprising wit put up 
