Justin Timberlake Gives Back to Hometown

On March 20, singer/performer Justin Timberlake donated a total of $200,000 to both the Rock 'N' Soul Museum and the Memphis Music Foundation in his hometown of Memphis, TN. His donations will go towards educating students about music, and will allow them to take interest in playing music. Timberlake showed up with his check unexpectedly at the museum, where John Doyle, the director of the museum, was pleasantly surprised and grateful for the singer's generosity. Timberlake has always been very involved in charities and in reaching out to help children get the chance to learn about music. According to Doyle, "he has never stopped giving back to the community, to the local music industry, and to young people." Timberlake is so talented and well-rounded, with being a singer, dancer, songwriter, designer, actor, and founder of the Justin Timberlake foundation. I think it is great to see famous people such as himself giving back to their community and showing interest in people other than themselves; it gives them a positive image and a reason for children to look up to them as role models.

Clinton's Exagerated Arrival in Bosnia

Last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton said she "misspoke" when she gave a dramatic description of her arrival in Bosnia 12 years ago, recounting a landing under sniper fire. Giving a speech on foreign policy to George Washington University, she recalled her arrival as dangerous to back up her argument that she has the foreign policy experience needed to be commander in chief. Video footage later arose showing Clinton smiling and greeting people with the people of Bosnia upon her arrival.

The following Monday, during the editorial meeting with the Daily News, Clinton responded to the discrepancy with, "Now let me tell you what I can remember, OK -- because what I was told was that we had to land a certain way and move quickly because of the threat of sniper fire. So I misspoke -- I didn't say that in my book or other times but if I said something that made it seem as though there was actual fire -- that's not what I was told," she told the newspaper."I was told we had to land a certain way, we had to have our bulletproof stuff on because of the threat of sniper fire. I was also told that the greeting ceremony had been moved away from the tarmac but that there was this 8-year-old girl and, I can't, I can't rush by her, I've got to at least greet her -- so I greeted her, I took her stuff and then I left. Now that's my memory of it." Afterwards, Clinton tried to change the subject, but was constantly bombarded with questions being that the focal point of her campaign is on foreign policy.

I believe that the crisis management executed in this ordeal concerning Clinton was well done, but still may of hurt her in beating Obama. She handled it promptly, was willing to answer any questions, and gave reasonable, well thought out, explanations for what she said. A bigger problem to Clinton's campaign was that this gave Obama a chance to use this against her. The pr effort executed by Obama was smart because it would make him look better and tackle her driving force that she had against him. It was almost effective crisis management from an outside party, if you will. Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for rival Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, said the Bosnia claim was part of "a growing list of instances in which Sen. Clinton has exaggerated her role in foreign and domestic policy making."All in all Clinton did what she could to correct the damage done, but Obama gained from implementing an excellent pr effort.

For more information click:
www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/25/campaign.wrap/index.html

Boeing Being Sued After Jet Falls Apart

Major Stephen Stilwell was injured last year when his F-15 jet fell apart in mid air over Missouri.  Stilwell suffered major injuries and is now suing boeing for the the defective aircraft. "Stillwell has suffered desfigurement and an inability to work and perform useful and productive work activities...". Air force investigators did find defects including cracks in parts that were installed incorrectly.  The fleet of f-15s were grounded and inspected while most were returned to fly some were also perminantly grounded due to similar defects.  The planes were orginally owned and built by McDonald-Douglas which was then bought by Boeing Co.  Stilwell and his Lawyer Morry Cole flied the complaint Friday stating that Boeing should have been aware of these defects prior to being flown.  Cole will not comment on any further questions until court. 

In recent years, automakers have been developing hybrid cars that will help the environment as well as drivers.

The new Ford Escape was created to drive like regular cars minus the high costs. Rather than driving thirty miles per gallon, the Escape can drive sixty and even then some. Ford's Greg Frenette spoke about the new Escape saying that in a suburban area one can drive this vehicle for thirty miles without even using a drop of gas. Though its rival the Toyota Prius gets more miles per gallon, the difference between the two is that Escape uses its electric motor as its main way to start, compared to the Prius that uses the gas motor as its primary way.



Because of such high gas prices, many new car buyers should think about purchasing hybrid cars. Today, gas costs about ten cents per mile, while hybrid cars' electricity cost a third as much. As David Sandalow of the Brookings Institution writes in his new book, "Freedom From Oil", "Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are a game-changing technology. They can break our oil addiction, cut driving costs and reduce pollution."

With these types of advancements in the way we all drive, how many more years will it be until gas motors are outdated and become hard to find?

Obama Related to Brad Pitt...Hillary to Angelina Jolie...Really???

Researchers today at the New England Historic Geneological Society in Boston found a loop that links Democratic presidential nominees Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to the hot couple of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Just like many of you, I sit here and ponder this and wonder who would really care, but just like many of you who probably clicked on the link to check out the story, there has to be a reason for this. The answer is plain and simple...THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS STORY! After reading the headlines and knowing that both Brad and Angelina are two of the most beautiful people for their genders, I figured this could be a strategic PR push. Will knowing that Barack Obama is related to Brad going to sway people his way, or is knowing Hillary is kin to the stunning Angelina going to do the same for her? Who knows...the article is silly, but it will be funny to see how many people will take it to heart and change their votes based on the geneology of the presidential candidates. I can't wait to see what researchers will come up with next!

Smashing Pumpkins sue Virgin Records

Long time alternative rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins, are suing Virgin Records for illegally using the band's name and music in a promotional campaign for Amazon.com and Pepsi Co.

The Smashing Pumpkins, who recently released their album Zeitgeist in 2007, have been a big name in the music industry since the early nineties with the release of their debut album Gish in 1991. Furthermore, the band has been on the Virgin record label for more than 17 years and has never had any issues or disagreements on promotional marketing with the label prior to this lawsuit.

According to the Pumpkins, the record label's decision to promote the band through the Amazon website and the use of Pepsi products is a blow against the band's credibility with fans and threatens their long term reputation for "artistic integrity." The lawsuit against the label claims that the only agreement made between the band and Virgin was granting permission for the label to sell digital downloads of the Pumpkins' songs. Furthermore, the agreement did not give Virgin the right to use the band in promotional marketing for outside products.

In a statement on the Pumpkins' website, frontman, Billy Corgan, states, "We fought hard for the right to be in control of how our music is used, to avoid situations like this kind of crass commercialism and exploitation. Labels like EMI are no longer running the show, and we won't be bullied by those in the 'old' music business who consider every artist to be easily expendable. Those days are over."

With the lawsuit at hand, it's a wonder what the future holds for record labels like Virgin and musicians fighting back against faulty promotions of themselves and their music. The Smashing Pumpkins just may have opened the door of a new kind of attitude toward record labels in the music industry.

Super Computer Equals Super PR

On February 23 the University of Texas who worked closely with National Research Network to unveil its creations of a new super computer that both institutions claim to be the most powerful computer in the world. This occurred at the Pickle Research Campus, which is apart of the University of Texas. The big deal that this computer brings to the market other than its technological innovation is its ability to compute complex math equations to help scientist deal with complicated equations along the studies of climate change, astrophysics, and energy research.
This sort of Public Relations is a great example of two organizations boosting their credibility with any individual across the world with their ability to develop advanced technology. The University of Texas could expect and increase of membership for its breakthrough in technology, in addition the National Research Network is mostly an unheard of organization that get put on the radar along with noticed. The story in the Austin American Statesman (http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/02/23/0223supercomputer.html) was most likely one of interest by the paper, however the paper would not have known of this unveiling unless invited by the University of Texas or the National Research Network. Also there is a YouTube video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=izhh9_FJmDY ) that shows the super computer for those who could not attend the event to see.
This was a successful public relation campaign, because the computer is the most powerful in the world so it basically sales itself as being interesting. In my opinion the University of Texas benefited the most from this computer, because they strengthened their name in credibility by creating this computer. In addition more students are probably going to apply to the University of Texas, because frankly they are going to want to be at the school that the paper and YouTube are talking about in a positive way.