 |
| Sean Conley |
Caught behind a rock and a hard place is president Trump’s physician Sean Conley, who has been roundly criticized for his upbeat assessments of our COVID-19-stricken tweeter-in-chief.
The Financial Times ridiculed Conley as Trump’s cheerleader-in-chief, who casts the president in an unflinchingly positive light.
Conley has been called a publicist in a white lab coat for saying, “I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, over his course of illness, has had,” or triumphantly announcing, “He’s back."
As a US Navy trauma doctor, Conley served in Afghanistan, where he treated soldiers with life-threatening injuries.
The FT notes that as a military doctor Conley technically must defer to the president as commander-in-chief. The trauma doctor never could have imagined the drama involved in serving a patient as unhinged as Trump.
Goodbye. Ruby Tuesday. It didn’t take a genius to know that headline writers would reference the Rolling Stones 1967 classic on stories about the casual dining restaurant chain going belly-up.
That’s why Ruby Tuesday CEO Shawn Lederman said in the company's Oct. 7 Chapter 11 press release: “This announcement does not mean “Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday.”
He went on to say that the financial restructuring “is a critical step in our transformation for long-term financial health—this is 'Hello,' to a stronger Ruby Tuesday.”
There’s even a new logo with the tagline “Hello, Ruby Tuesday: Restructuring to be Better than Ever.”
Lederman was less upbeat in the court filing, saying that the 185 restaurants that were shut down during the pandemic are now permanently closed. That leaves about 235 company-owned and operated franchises.
About 7,000 of Ruby Tuesday’s 7,300 employees have been temporarily furloughed.
The Maryville, TN-based company, which was founded in 1972, distributed a fact sheet to “laid off team members” informing them they “are no longer Ruby Tuesday employees and will not be recalled to work.”
It told them they will receive no further compensation from the company and advised them to file for unemployment benefits.
“We also encourage team members to stay abreast of local news updates as some restaurants and school systems have committed to provide free meals for children during this time,” says the fact sheet. Ruby Tuesday also provided a list of charities that offer free meals and rental assistance.
As the Stones sing: “Ain’t life unkind.” Amen to that, say Ruby Tuesday employees.
Elon Musk crashes Tesla’s PR department, according to the Electrek green energy blog, which reported that journalists haven’t received replies to their questions from the automaker in months.
But that doesn’t mean that Tesla has pulled the plug on its communications outreach.
Tesla has paid five different lobbying firms to do its bidding in DC during 2020.
Musk’s company spent $210K on lobbying during the first half of 2020 at Fulcrum Public Affairs, Holland & Knight, Phoenix Global Organization Inc., Tai Ginsberg & Assocs. and West Front Strategies.
The powerful Cassidy & Assocs. joined the lobbying team on Sept. 29. Kai Anderson, deputy chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, leads the push on issues such as tax credits and transportation electrification matters.
Tesla is no shrinking flower on Capitol Hill.
Donald Trump is 100 percent correct that he has lousy PR but that's only because his policies stink and are hurting Americans... Will billionaires or civil society groups shape the future of AI regulations?... "Evidence in an Age of Doubt" is the timely theme of this year's investigative film festival put on by the 100Reporters group. 
WPP CEO Cindy Rose works to manage shareholder expectations ahead of the Oct. 29 release of financials. Don't expect a miracle turnaround... Kudos to Skydance chief David Ellison for keeping CNN CEO Mark Thompson on the job. Now he has to expend Thompson's contract... Vast majority of Americans want federal government to regulate AI. They obviously don't trust the "super intelligence" president to oversee AI.
Don’t believe what your eyes see and ears hear is the mantra of Donald Trump who claims his propaganda advertising designed to boost his fragile ego are “clearly not campaign ads”... Democratic National Committee steps up outreach to Jewish Americans as antisemitism rises and traditional support for Israel tanks. 
The Trump administration's crackerjack team designed America.gov, which puts all services offered by US agencies under a single AI roof. What could possibly go wrong?... ESG pioneer Starbucks jumps off the sustainability train in favor of corporate cost-cutting... Perception of press freedom plummets to all-time low, according to Gallup survey.
China's president Xi Jinping won the PR battle over Donald Trump as the American groveled before his guest of honor on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews. Trump’s kowtowing to Xi is a sign of both his personal weakness and of America’s decline on the global stage.
