Monthly Archives: March 2011

EPA chief Lisa Jackson’s conduct ‘grossly improper’

Lisa P. Jackson1 EPA chief Lisa Jackson’s conduct ‘grossly improper’

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This afternoon I wrote a post entitled EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Attend Anti-Mining Soiree Tonight and I guess it is happening right now at the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. I was looking around and I came upon another mention that I hadn’t seen way back at a little before 1 today, Guest post: EPA chief Lisa Jackson’s conduct ‘grossly improper’ on the PJ Tatler:

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is hosting a reception at the Supreme Court today for various opponents of the proposed Pebble Mine project in Alaska.  Politico’s Morning Energy reports that one of the attendees will be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson.  And I have heard that Jackson will be speaking to the group.

Jackson’s conduct is grossly improper.  Environmental pressure groups have petitioned the EPA to deny a Clean Water Act permit for the mine before the company developing it has even applied for the permit.  Appearing at what is essentially a pep rally for those opposing the mine means that Jackson has already taken sides in the bitter political and legal dispute.

If you have not read my earlier post easier, I am going to include it after the jump:

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EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Attend Anti-Mining Soiree Tonight

300px Lisa P. Jackson official portrait1 EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Attend Anti Mining Soiree Tonight

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I was really surprised to read this morning that acting EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson plans to attend an event sponsored by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in an activist effort to block a gold mine in Alaska.  While this sort of private passion is all well and good in the private sector, it doesn’t have a place in the public sector.  In the public sector, America needs Lisa P. Jackson to have the wisdom and character of Solomon instead of pushing her personal agenda in such public view.  In our public officials, I expect neutrality, I expect pragmatism, and I expect exemplarism — leading by example and maintaining a strong sense of integrity, commitment to the public good, and a focus on America’s greater interests.

Here are some articles from this morning going into more detail about the event tonight and about the issue at hand, one from Politico PRO (via email), one from the National Review, and one from Politico proper:

Politico PRO: Justice O’Connor, EPA’s Jackson to appear at anti-mine event by Patrick Reis

PA Administrator Lisa Jackson and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor are headlining a campaign this week to block a massive Alaska gold mine near one of the world’s largest salmon runs.

O’Connor is hosting an invitation-only reception at the Supreme Court building Thursday for a coalition of conservationists, commercial fishers, sport anglers and Alaska natives who are in Washington this week to ask the Obama administration to ban the potential gold mine near Bristol Bay.

Jackson is scheduled to speak at the event, giving advocates access to the administration official who has the power to put that ban in place.

For years, mining companies Anglo American Plc and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. have been exploring the “Pebble Mine project,” a potential open-pit gold and copper mine near the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The partnership has not formally proposed to build a mine and insists that any mine it does build would be designed to protect the environment.

But the opponents say any mine would pollute the watershed that salmon depend on. They want the EPA to issue a pre-emptive veto of the Clean Water Act permit that the mine would need to go forward. The agency agreed in February to study the site to see how mining would affect the salmon fishery.

Politico: Previewing Obama’s energy speech – Stabenow offers third Dem EPA alternative – White House lobbyist departs for Entergy by Josh Voorhees & Darren Samuelsohn (Additional reporting by Robin Bravender, Patrick Reis and Darren Goode)

BIG FISH – Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is hosting an invitation-only reception this evening to bolster opposition to a potential gold mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to the one of the world’s largest salmon runs. O’Connor will host a delegation of Alaskan salmon advocates – including environmental groups, commercial fishing outfits and Alaska natives – who are in town this week to ask EPA to pre-emptively block multinational mining outfit Anglo American from building an open-pit gold mine in the bay’s headquarters. They may get to take their case straight to the top, as a source tells POLITICO’s Patrick Reis that Lisa Jackson will attend the event as well.

National Review: More Fishy Political Activity by Justice O’Connor by Ed Whelan

Whether rightly or wrongly, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor maintains that she now has senior status and can sit on lower-court cases. Yet she somehow feels free to engage in crass political activity that is inconsistent with the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.

I would think that everyone would agree that O’Connor’s latest instance of political misconduct is especially fishy. According to Politico:

O’Connor is hosting an invitation-only reception this evening to bolster opposition to a potential gold mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to the one of the world’s largest salmon runs. O’Connor will host a delegation of Alaskan salmon advocates – including environmental groups, commercial fishing outfits and Alaska natives – who are in town this week to ask EPA to pre-emptively block multinational mining outfit Anglo American from building an open-pit gold mine in the bay’s headquarters. They may get to take their case straight to the top, as a source tells POLITICO’s Patrick Reis that [EPA head] Lisa Jackson will attend the event as well.

Fish jokes aside, how is it that a sitting federal judge (or, more precisely, someone who believes herself to be a sitting federal judge) can somehow imagine that it is proper for her to help organize a political campaign aimed at influencing a federal agency?

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Attend Anti Mining Soiree Tonight

Your Brand Isn't Just A Logo

build your brand2 Your Brand Isn't Just A LogoMarketers spend a lot of time coming up with a brand name, an it takes a lot of creative and logical thinking to draw a brand logo, but what does your brand really mean? What does it stand for?

The word “brand” doesn’t just pertain to your company logo, or your name, it stands for something else, something deeper than what we can perceive by just looking at the surface, something more valuable. Your brand is the whole personality of your company. It may only take you a couple of hours to come up with a catchy brand name and an eye-catching logo but building a brand is a continuous process.

Brad VanAuken answers the question “What Is A Brand?” :

A brand is a source of a promise to its customers. It promises relevant differentiated benefits. It does so not only to place itself into the purchase consideration set, but even more importantly, to be the brand chosen from that purchase consideration set. This is also sometimes referred to as the brand’s unique value proposition. Whether it is called a unique value proposition or a promise of relevant differentiated benefits, it is very important that the promise or proposition be delivered consistently at each point of customer contact, time after time.

I would like to view a “brand” as a person’s name. It isn’t just a word or a common noun – it is by name that we recognize each person’s identity, and personality. The person’s dignity and honor is all attached to his name, and this is also true in brands. As a person, we do not want to be remembered only by name, we do not want everyone to know our names and forget who we really are. We like people to remember who and what we are.

On that note, brands symbolizes not only the company but the people who are behind it, the quality of their product, the efficiency of their services and how committed they are to their customers.

And that being said, the most important is to nurture and build the brand by actions that are appropriate.

How To Schedule Tweets To Be Posted On Twitter Using Hootsuite

Some of you (especially those of you involved in social media marketing) might be wondering how to schedule tweets to be sent out at a later time. While Twitter has no built in scheduling option, there is a fairly easy option to schedule tweets, Hootsuite. Once you’ve signed up for a free Hootsuite account simply follow the directions in the image below:

Hootsuite Schedule Tweets 50dpi 711x1024 How To Schedule Tweets To Be Posted On Twitter Using Hootsuite
(Click here or on the image for a larger view)

Feel free to share this image on your blog as well:

Be sure to check out the home of my alter-ego HowToPhil for more of my instructional images, videos, and articles.

Twitter Tests Geotargetting

twitter money 300x300 Twitter Tests GeotargettingTwitter is testing an update that could herald a major advance in their marketing platform. They are now testing geotargeting with their promoted products. This will give marketers even more targeting of their audiences, not just by user interest but also by where they are located.

Zachary Rodgers in his Twitter Conducts Geotargeting Test states that:

The test Applies to Twitter’s Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets ad products, but not to its most visible Promoted Trends ads. Trial advertisers will be able to target Promoted Accounts ads by country while Promoted Tweets can be more granular -supporting either country or metro area delivery in the U.S. The company would not disclose specific advertisers in the test, nor would it say how many users or advertisers were involved.

Twitter said in a statement, “We continuously launch features to enhance the advertising experience on Twitter. As with all of our advertising efforts, we are watching this test closely and will use feedback from advertisers and Twitter users to fine-tune and iterate on the feature.”

Twitter has proven its influence when it comes to marketing and advertising. This feature, if accepted and implemented will be a good service not only for marketers but also for customers.