The finest example of the full flowering of corporate crisis management (as pioneered in the Tylenol tampering case) was in the sports pages Tuesday. Ari Fleischer, who helped Bush sell the Iraq War, is controlling the campaign to guide Mark McGwire through his steroid induced image problem.  

Some elements of contemporary crisis management as described in the book Damage Control are:  The blurring of the lines between news and entertainment and the rise of the Internet is making aggressive responses to corporate crises more important than ever, Dezenhall and Weber write. Businesses will have to function like modern politicians: communications targeted at sympathetic audiences and pre-emptive attacks on opponents who will seek to undermine companies are the new rules of the game.  

By a strange quirk, the Tylenol case is back in the headlines as well. Stories surfaced this week about James W. Lewis and his wife who have been under suspicion for the 1982 Chicago-area Tylenol tampering case. In this incident seven deaths were caused by poison laced Tylenol.  

The steps Johnson & Johnson used to mitigate the PR problem surrounding the poisoning is recognized as being perhaps the birth of modern corporate crisis management. Since then, events that could otherwise have been total disasters are seen as manageable crises that, with the correct spin, can be handled in a way which lessens or blunts the PR damage.  

Fleischer’s crisis management firm, spiritual heir to the lessons learned in the Tylenol case, has taken on Mark McGwire’s full frontal corporate media blitz.  

The one-day plan — coordinated over the past month by Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary who runs a crisis-communications company, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who recently hired McGwire as their batting coach  He did it all in one afternoon, starting with a statement that was distributed widely to the news media, and that came across the Associated Press wire at 3 p.m. The A.P. followed quickly with a story that featured an interview with McGwire, who subsequently spoke to numerous other news media outlets — including USA Today and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Tim Kurkjian and John Kruk of ESPN (both by telephone, not on the air); KTRS Radio in St. Louis; and The New York Times, before talking to Bob Costas live at 7 p.m. Eastern on  MLB Network.

IMG sports media management which represents Bob Costas has a joint partnership with Fleischer Sports Communication. Ari proves again that he can still control the pitches almost as well as back in the White House days.    

The Vermont Lt. Gov Race is seeing some movement.  Rutland State Rep. Democrat Steve Howard, says he’s joining the race for the Lt. Gov. position being vacated by Brian Dubie, a Republican who is running for governor.

Burlington State Rep. David Zuckerman, a Progressive, has decided not to run for Lt. Gov. According to the Nashua Telegraph, Zuckerman has decided to devote his time this summer to his organic vegetable farm instead of campaigning.

Thus far, two Republicans:  State Sen. Phil Scott, of Washington County, and businessman Mark Snelling, son of former Gov. Richard Snelling plan to run Lt. Gov.

This is the final in a four-part series about my visit to Stacia and Kristof Nordin’s permaculture project in Lilongwe, Malawi. Crossposted from Nourishing the Planet.

Travel anywhere in Malawi and you’ll see people sweeping-the sidewalks, the floors of their houses, and the bare dirt outside their homes. And while the sweeping makes everything look tidy, it’s also one of the major causes of damage to soils in the country. Because sweeping compacts soils, leaving it without any organic matter, erosion is widespread and the soil has very little nutrients. As a result, crops-especially corn-in Malawi rely heavily on the use of artificial fertilizers.

Kristof and Stacia Nordin have been working in Malawi to help educate farmers that “tidy” yards and gardens aren’t necessarily better for producing food or the environment. Stacia works for the German-base NGO GTZ, while Kristof runs the farm and is a community facilitator. Their home is used as a demonstration plot for permaculture methods that incorporate composting, water harvesting, intercropping and other methods that help build organic matter in soils, conserve water, and protect agricultural diversity.

“Design,” says Kristof, “is key in permaculture,” meaning that everything from the garden beds to the edible fish pond to the composting toilet have an important role on their property.  And while their neighbors have been skeptical of the Nordins’ unswept yard, they’re impressed by the quantity-and diversity-of food grown by the family. More than 200 indigenous fruits and vegetables are grown on the land, providing a year round supply of food to the Nordins and their neighbors.

In addition, they’re training the 26 tenants who rent houses on the property to practice permaculture techniques around their homes and have built an edible playground, where children can play and learn about different indigenous fruits.  More importantly, the Nordins are showing that by not sweeping, people can get more out of the land than just maize.

Such practices will become even more important as drought, flooding, other effects of climate change continue to become more evident in Malawi and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

For more about permaculture, check out Chapter 6, “From Agriculture to Permaculture” in State of the World 2010, which was released today.

I took my own advice and sent an e-mail off to Susan Bartlett expressing my concern that this increase was being hurried through the legislature. Here’s what she wrote:

 actually they have supplied a great deal of information   and these incentives are performance based, in other words, until they have actually created the jobs, filled the jobs and kept folks working, they don’t get the incentive.   So it doesn’t cost the state anything unless and until the company performs as they say they will perform.   Part of figuring out the performance is the net gain in state revenues these companies produce to the state  think of it as they produce an additional $10 million in payroll and business revenues, they get a piece of the pie back, the state still makes a profit

I then asked if she  supports the increase and she replied that she does.

I’m going to exercise my prerogative and send this topic right back to the top of the queue, because it needs a fast reader response.  Doug just posted the following as an update on his “Emergency” diary and I thought it should have maximum eye-coverage in the hope that some folks will feel passionate enough to shoot off a letter or two to their reps:

the Governor’s rush to raise the VEPC / VEGI cap is getting heated; the head of GBIC sent a note to legislators telling them in effect that there are 750 jobs on the line.  The Governor knows this ploy is putting the E Board members in a corner; if they no, they’re “anti-business.”

The chairs of House Commerce (Kitzmiller) & Senate Economic Development (Illuzzi) have both sent messages asking that the process slow down so their committees can work through it. The Governor wants this decision made based on nothing but faith; the members don’t know the names of the companies, if they’ve been growing through the recession (or are just rehiring folks laid off earlier), etc.

It’s an outrage; basically extortion.  Please encourage folks to write to the E Board members and their reps and ask that they slow down this train  

Despite his words barely more than a week ago, it appears that the Governor isn’t quite through making political mischief with the legislature.

GMD has learned that Chris Winters, an attorney who has been the director of teh Office of Professional Regulation, and who had been planning a run for Secretary of State, has taken his name out of contention.

In a note posted on his web page, Winters made the following statement:

Dear Friends,

I am writing to share some recent news about my campaign for Secretary of State.  I have made the difficult decision not to run this year.  My wife Sarah and I are expecting a child in July and are thrilled to become parents again.  My family will always come first and it is clear that this is not the time for me to be engaged in an election.

Based on what is known at this point, this move would appear to leave the Democratic field for this race to declared candidate Charlie Merriman and rumored candidate Jim Condos. Of course, it's still early.

Follow the link for the rest of the Winters statement, and, of course, keep coming back here for the latest news on the 2010 election.

(Cross-posted at Broadsides.org)

Doug Racine, the milquetoast Democrat who failed to defeat Republican Jim Douglas in his first effort to be Vermont’s governor in 2002, is now trying again. It’s a lot different this time around since Racine is facing a Democratic primary with at least four other gubernatorial wannabes, a far cry from the red carpet and silver-spooned treatment he got from outgoing Democratic Governor Howard Dean and the party in 2002 (“here, you are the chosen one.”).

Racine seems like a nice enough guy. You know the kind: Rich kid working in daddy’s business with access to the kind of Rolodex that screams “political future.” And he’s parlayed his fine lineage into creating a rather impressive political resume, including stints as Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor and many terms in the State’s Senate.

The problem with Racine – well, other than he’s boring – is that he’s got a political backbone akin to over-cooked pasta (read: limp). To steal a great line from Ann Richards, that’s what happens when “you’re born on third base and think you hit a triple.”

Worse, instead of fighting for something he believes in, Racine panders to those he thinks will fall for his thinly-veiled pandering. In other words, all talk and no action – which explains nearly twenty years of political service with little more than platitudes to show for it.

Take, for example, the health-care debate. Racine has been the chairman of the Senate’s Health and Welfare Committee for years, years which have been rife with talk and an urgent need for action on the issue of health-care reform. But Racine has done little more than punt and otherwise pass the buck when meaningful reform (read: universal health care) came before his powerful committee.

But, Racine is quick to add, he “understands” the need for change. I doubt it. Because I doubt anyone in his family has ever faced the prospect of choosing between paying the energy bill, the grocery bill or the health care bill (but not all three).

Last year, Chairman Racine punted on the health-care issue by declaring that President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress would get the job done for us, a decision that has resulted in yet another wasted year since it’s clear whatever Obama/Congress does on health care won’t be nearly enough. Meanwhile, those of us without the luxury of “waiting” are now paying the 10% increases to our premiums this year – waiting always seems to work best for those with the most, huh?

This year, with his candidacy for governor in full swing, Racine is now talking tough again on health care. Single-payer advocates have convinced him to hold a hearing tomorrow night in Montpelier on the issue, and many have touted his willingness to hold the hearing as some kind of endorsement for meaningful health-care reform this year.

Not so fast, my friends. Because, while Racine is enjoying the fawning recognition from the health care advocates (naive, for sure), he’s making it clear that tomorrow night’s hearing and this year’s legislative session in general is meant to only “move the conversation forward” on the health-care issue. And when WDEV’s Mark Johnson asked Racine last week if any legislation was expected out his committee, Racine was quick to return to his noncommittal “move the conversation forward” goal.

For those asleep at the political wheel, “moving the conversation forward” is political speak for “jerking your chain.” And there’s nothing more that Candidate Racine wants to do than jerk your chain, Vermont voters. If it sounds a lot like the Obama candidacy, it should. Been there, done that.

But Vermont voters and health-care advocates need to smarten up on this one. Instead of rushing to embrace Racine’s hearings-to-nowhere we should be demanding that he commit to real and meaningful health-care reform this year – if not right now. What more do we need to discuss? How much more time and money are we going to offer to the health care criminals running the insurance corporations?

If Racine wants the support of health-care advocates, Racine should be forced to deliver the health-care goods. He is, after all, the Chairman of the Senate’s Health and Welfare Committee. And that doesn’t mean mere “conversations” (we’ve been doing that in this country since 1918 on health care), it means action – as in: votes, bills, and laws.

It’s really quite simple: If Racine, as the Democratic Chairman of Vermont Senate’s Health & Welfare Committee, can’t move forward with meaningful – and universal – health care coverage during this legislative session, he’s not fit to be the party’s gubernatorial candidate in November.

That’s the message health-care advocates should be bringing to the hearings tomorrow night. It would be a lot more effective than cheering Racine’s near-endless (and privileged) pursuit of mere “conversations.” Because it’s time for action. Now.

Crossposted from Nourishing the Planet.

I’ve had the opportunity to try some traditional-and tasty-local foods while I’ve been traveling in Africa, including amaranth, breadfruit, matooke (mashed banana), posho (maize flour), groundnut sauce, spider weed, sukuma wiki (a leafy green), and a whole lot of other vegetables and fruits with names that I can neither remember nor pronounce.

One thing I haven’t tried yet is found all over Africa and, in addition to being a food source, it is also considered a pest-grasshoppers. As I was walking through a market in Kampala, Uganda I noticed women “shelling” what I thought were beans, but upon closer inspection the baskets sitting between their legs were full of wriggling grasshoppers. As they sat, chatting with one another and the curious American, they were de-winging the insects so that they could be either sold “raw” or fried for customers.

Despite the yuck factor many of you reading this might have for eating insects, grasshoppers, crickets, termites, and other “bugs” can be a nutritious source of protein, vitamins, minerals,

and other nutrients. According to the results from a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization workshop in 2008, caterpillars are an important source of food for many people in Central Africa, providing not only protein, but also potassium and iron.

Collecting and selling insects can also be an important source of income, especially for women in Africa. And as climate change increases the prevalence of certain insects, they become an even more important source of food in the future.

* Originally posted at http://asrblog.com/2009/12/23/… *

All of the candidates for Vermont Governor who still buy into “politics as usual,” whether they are Democrats or Republicans, are running on the same platform: “If I’m elected Governor, I’ll be the smoothest and most effective administrator of Federal money.” Because, in this day and age, that’s what’s expected of a Governor: that he act dutifully in his role of mid-level administrator of the Vermont arm of the Federal Government. The Congressional delegation carves out an nice fat chunk of pork, and the Governor’s job is to distribute the bacon.

This, however, is not what the Governor is supposed to be. Under the federation created by the Constitution, a State Governor is the executive of a sovereign State. In that role, the State Governor ‘s relationship with his or her Federal counterparts should be half-cooperative and half-adversarial; making sure things that are in the interest of the State go smoothly, but also using his power to resist tyrannical Federal acts. Whether we talk about Jim Douglas or Howard Dean, the part that recent Vermont governors have played has been the administrative role; their main goal has been to grab the largest slice of the Federal appropriations pie, no matter how disastrous the long-term impact of such activities may be. It’s been a long time since this State has seen a Governor with true backbone.

The current crop of mainstream candidates holds no greater hope for the future; there are many interesting personalities, but not one of them will make the hard decision to buck the will of the Federal government should justice demand it. That, more than any other reason, is why I will be voting for Dennis Steele for Governor in 2010.

When the invasion of Iraq was deceptively foisted upon the American People by their self-serving elites, millions took to the street in protest. Which didn’t do a lick of good, because the American police state learned its lessons well in the 1960s-’70s. As long as the loyalty of the professional paramilitary police is maintained, straight civil disobedience rarely has the potential to seriously threaten the power structure. However, there’s a very old, very American form of protest that those of us who are outraged by what we’ve seen in the last decade can use to turn our dissent into action: the assertion of sovereignty.

As part of the “Compromise of 1850,” an extremely harsh fugitive-slave law was passed which allowed slave-catchers to ply their trade with virtual impunity in the free North, and even simplified the process of kidnapping free blacks and selling them back into slavery. To Vermonters, whose State had outlawed slavery in its Constitution in 1777, this act was perceived as an unjust outrage, and they reacted accordingly.

Their reaction, however, was different from the way in which 21st century Americans react to the Federal government does something atrocious, like, say, giving $700 billion to private banks or invading yet another third-world country. If really riled up, the contemporary American will sign an on-line petition, send an email to his or her legislator, or maybe even attend a carefully choreographed rally. When the Vermonters of 1850 knew that a law was morally unacceptable, on the other hand, they used the full power of their State sovereignty to keep it from achieving its purpose in the land between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut river. The effect was real; from 1850 until the Civil War, not a single escaped slave was returned to the South from Vermont, despite the fact that many were living openly on sympathetic farms (You can still tour one of those farms: Rokeby of Ferrisburg; they have a letter on display written by a slaveowner impotently begging for compensation for his human “property”).

Now, after years of wars, eroded civil liberties, and bailouts, we need a Governor who will stand up to Washington when it crosses the line. When they demand that yet another power or right be stripped from the People and handed to Federal bureaucrats, we need a leader who has the courage to answer with a resounding “NO”, and whose actions will match his rhetoric. A leader who will bring Vermont’s National Guard home from the Imperial wars with or without the blessing of the Washington elites. A leader who will vocally denounce unconstitutional Federal practices, whether they be the PATRIOT act or the bailouts, and will use the power of our sovereign Vermont to mitigate the effects of those atrocities here at home, just as our forebearers did in 1850. A Governor who, when Congress bumbles into its next ill-conceived war, will use every force at his disposal to end the cycle of violence and waste that’s consumed our economy and society since the Cold War.

Neither Vermont’s Democratic nor its Republican party has the courage to stand up for us, the People of Vermont; they care more about winning Pyrrhic short-term political victories than they do about securing a long-term future of liberty, justice, peace, and sustainability. Dennis Steele, on the other hand, will choose the hard right over the easy wrong, even if it means standing up to the skulking behemoth which occupies the banks of the Potomac River.

There is no doubt that Dennis has a hard road ahead of him, and that his chance of victory, barring a crisis that fundamentally alters the political calculus, is slim. However, there’s nothing to lose by voting for him; the cause of independence isn’t a partisan issue that will swing the election to the Republican or Democratic “Federal Flunky” candidate. Even if he doesn’t win, a strong showing for Steele in 2010 will send a powerful message that there are many Vermonters who are willing to resort to serious measures to resist Federal abuses; push us further, and we know what to do and have the will to get it done. Such a statement might force the Washington elite to think twice before blithely initiating the next bailout or war; it will certainly give the buyers of the Federal debt that will fund such projects pause before they commit their money to a government whose tax-base could very well abandon it. Washington has long ago learned to ignore the will of the voters; it cannot fail to listen the voices of its creditors. Voting for a Democrat or a Republican will not tilt the balance of power in this country in favor of the people; voting for Dennis Steele for Vermont Governor in 2010 will.

If you've been paying attention to the debate on Douglas's proposed ATV rules, which Douglas has now promulgated even over the unanimous objection of the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, you know that one of the big arguments is how bad it will really be if ATV trails are allowed on public lands. Will the new rules open the doors to hooliganism and generally destructive behavior, as environmentalists argue, or will the ATV riders effectively police themselves, as the trails' supporters claim?

The experience on snowmobile trails is instructive. 

The Burlington Free Press reports that so far this winter there have been three fatal snowmobile crashes in Vermont, with alcohol involved in one of the crashes.

The advocacy group for snowmobilers is the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers.  VAST pays $170,000 to Vermont law enforcement for patrols on and near snowmobile trails. The money is divided among state police, county sheriffs’ departments, and Vermont Fish and Wildlife officers. Police conduct patrols on snowmobile trails, much like police look out for drunken drivers on Vermont highways, said Sgt. J.R. Underhill, the recreational enforcement coordinator for the Vermont State Police.

So what can we take from this? Even spending $170,000 a year, the Vermont authorities can't keep snowmobilers from driving like maniacs and killing themselves in the woods.

We also know that ATV riders are already violating accepted standards of behavior. In a report in the Burlington Free Prss, the reporter and her local guide came upon unauthorized trail use:

 A number of signs warned that the trail is off-limits to all but paying members of an umbrella group, the Vermont All-Terrain Vehicle Sportsman’s Association, or VASA. On the other hand, a dozen yards from the legal trail, ATVs had begun to carve a second, unauthorized trail away from the trailhead. Tracks showed in the flattened grass, and a deep mud hole was forming at a low spot.

“That isn’t supposed to be there,” Carlin said, blaming it on “a group of guys who want to go up that way.” He said the club had made a barrier of brush across the informal trail, but it had been removed.
“We have a trail patrol that logs hundreds and hundreds of hours,” he said. The patrols watch for improper use, keep the trails clear and safe, and educate nonmembers about the benefits of joining, he said.

What are the odds they will do any better when the trails are on public lands?

It appears Pelosi can now be listed along side Obama and Reid as Washington DC surrender monkey:

Given the opposition [by radical right wing DC Dems] in the Senate, Pelosi, D-Calif., signaled late last year she did not view a public option as a requirement for a final compromise. Asked in an interview Dec. 16 whether she could support legislation without it, she said, “It depends what else is in the bill.”

More recently, she listed her goals for a House-Senate compromise without mentioning the provision she long has backed.

(HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL Government insurance option appears doomed, Barre/Montpelier Times Argus, 01/11/10)

I don’t remember anybody screaming about whether the glutted medical care insurance industry gets to keep 20% or 15% of the premiums, but apparently that has become the issue of import for Pelosi.

No wonder Weasel “The ACORN Attacker” Welch likes her so much … she won’t make him look weak and ineffectual.

And the Entergy Yankee gift that keeps giving [pollution]:

[Entergy Yankee spokesbot Rob] Williams said that one thing the special team had to decide was whether to drill other wells to locate the source of the contamination.

. . .

“Anytime you’ve got contamination in groundwater, the concern is ‘Is it indicative of a larger problem?'” [Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesbot Neil Sheehan] said.

(Entergy begins probe of radioactive leak, Barre/Montpelier Times Argus, 01/11/10)

I mean … what the hell? Why would we need to locate the source of radiation contamination? Why would the presence of tritium in the people’s ground water (you know … drinking water and such) just outside a broken nuclear plant be any indication of a larger problem?

***sigh***