One can rarely know if a leaked document was the result of an individual or a government strategy.  Thus, in the case of US intelligence focused on Israel’s preparation to counterattack Iran, one must ask who did the leaking?  No one seems to know at this time and there is no corroboration of the information.  Hence, news organizations need to handle the documents carefully.  Is the leak a protest?  Are the news media a pawn for the government?  Were the documents hacked by Iran?  Are the documents phony?  Until a source is verified, the information is suspect.   

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GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, is all-in for the production of electric vehicles.  She says GM will make a profit on EVs by the end of the year and she hasn’t changed the target for an all-electric vehicle line-up by 2035.  Should GM meet its goal, it will be a marketing and PR coup,  There are plenty of challenges on the way, notably a need for thousands more of charging stations across the US and Canada.  It will be a profound change at its dealerships where new methods of service will be needed and a new economic model.  

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Catching the booster was amazing, but now SpaceX engineers will work to catch the spacecraft too.  This puts SpaceX at the leading edge of rocket companies in the world.  If it succeeds, it will be a technological and PR coup. 

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It takes courage and verbal skill to sit for an interview with a news source trying to defeat your candidacy.  But VP Harris consented to an interview with Fox News anyway.  Her interviewer was on the attack and Harris was on defense immediately, but she called him out for talking over her.  The consensus is that she survived the experience politically.  It’s not something a candidate should do regularly but it sends a message to voters that the candidate is not afraid of opposition.  And, that is good.  

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When is tradition a useless tool of government?   Perhaps when after 700+ years, it is time to get rid of it.  That is what the UK is considering with the House of Lords.  The message is that it is time to constitute a body of legislators who more closely reflect the citizens of the country.  The House of Lords has been a debating society for many years without real power.  So, why have it at all?  It’s a question the UK might be answering for the final time. 

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Tesla misled humans by introducing robots at an event that were manipulated behind the scenes by other humans.  The robots served drinks but were not autonomous in doing it.  Observers condemned the trickery and Tesla got a black PR eye.  Musk should know better.

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You don’t have to like Elon Musk to understand that this was amazing.  It is incredible PR for SpaceX and the company’s engineers are rightly gobsmacked with wonder. 

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Citizens of Tampa FL were lucky again.  Hurricane Milton struck land 70 miles below the city and its spinning wall actually sucked water out of Tampa Bay rather than pushing it in.  It is now more than 100 years since the town has taken a direct hit.  Its reputation of a hurricane-free zone will be broken some day but not for now.  Meanwhile, its citizens are cleaning up what little damage was done in the town and breathing a sigh of relief.  What also hasn’t changed is Florida’s reputation for weather disasters.  How do you market a state as an ideal place to live when every year there is a risk of another hurricane pummeling it?  Floridians live in denial.  It is an interesting phenomenon to observe — at a distance.  

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This is thinking beyond the normal way of doing things.  It’s still far too early to know if the drone-robot combination will work and is cost-efficient.  Such far out ideas can easily fail and it is still open whether the world needs such high-tech delivery of packages.  The test is attracting publicity, but it is a big step away from day-to-day consumer activity.  Many have tried aerial and ground delivery and so far, none have worked well.  There is no guarantee this time will be different. 

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A candidate for high office makes promises to the electorate to win votes.  Trump has been bruiting tax cuts for just about anyone and everyone.  The problem say economists is that they will sink the budget of the country for decades to come. Do voters care?  They tend to think about immediate effects of campaign promises and not the future because no one can predict what is to come accurately.  So, while promises of tax cuts are good publicity, the experts are left to worry about them and who cares about experts?  

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