BP CEO Tony Hayward New Oil Disaster Ad: Sincere Or Damage Control?

Image by BP America via Flickr

I just do not understand why they continue to try to apply "normal" PR tactics to a super-sized disaster. I think every time one of the BP executives speaks, they do more damage (well, not as much as their gushing oil pipe...). Stay off TV, and fix the darn thing! This is not a PR crisis, it's a real environmental calamity!



David http://wyld-about-technology.blogspot.com/
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Armando Galarraga Gets Corvette Instead Of Perfect Game

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Both Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce have proven themselves to be class acts - examples for us all with class and sportsmanship. While it is a shame that he won't have the perfect game for baseball immortality, from a marketing perspective, I think Galarraga will do very, very well in the coming months with endorsements, speaking engagements, and more!



David http://wyld-about-sports.blogspot.com/
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Director James Cameron says BP turned down help offer - Yahoo! News

Unbelievable article from Yahoo News - BP turning down James Cameron's help - and him calling them "morons" in return! David

By Alexei Oreskovic – Thu Jun 3, 3:02 am ET

PALOS VERDES, Calif (Reuters) – Film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron said on Wednesday that BP Plc turned down his offer to help combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Over the last few weeks I've watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what's happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don't know what they're doing," Cameron said at the All Things Digital technology conference.

Cameron, the director of "Avatar" and "Titanic," has worked extensively with robot submarines and is considered an expert in undersea filming. He did not say explicitly who he meant when he referred to "those morons."
His comments came a day after he participated in a meeting at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington to "brainstorm" solutions to the oil spill.
Cameron said he has offered to help the government and BP in dealing with the spill. He said he was "graciously" turned away by the British energy giant.
He said he has not spoken with the White House about his offer, and said that the outside experts who took part in the EPA meeting were now "writing it all up and putting in reports to the various agencies."
The film director has helped develop deep-sea submersible equipment and other underwater ocean technology for the making of documentaries exploring the wrecks of the ocean liner Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck some two miles below the surface.

'REALLY SMART PEOPLE'

Cameron suggested the U.S. government needed to take a more active role in monitoring the undersea gusher, which has become the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
"I know really, really, really smart people that work typically at depths much greater than what that well is at," Cameron said.
The BP oil spill off the U.S. Gulf Coast is located a mile below the surface.

While acknowledging that his contacts in the deep-sea industry do not drill for oil, Cameron said that they are accustomed to operating various underwater vehicles and electronic optical fiber systems.
"Most importantly," he added, "they know the engineering that it requires to get something done at that depth."
Among the key issues that Cameron said he is interested in helping the government with are methods of monitoring the oil leak and investigating it.
"The government really needs to have its own independent ability to go down there and image the site, survey the site and do its own investigation," he said.
"Because if you're not monitoring it independently, you're asking the perpetrator to give you the video of the crime scene," Cameron added.

Cameron made two documentaries about the wreck of the Titanic as well as the blockbuster 1997 movie "Titanic" using a small fleet of specially designed remotely operated underwater vehicles. He said his qualifications are not based on his background as a movie director but on his years of involvement in the deep-sea industry.
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic, with additional reporting by Jill Sergeant)

Originally published Director James Cameron says BP turned down help offer - Yahoo! News


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Gulf Coast oil spill could wreck region's tourism and fishing industries

Great article from the Washington Post by Peter Whoriskey on the impact of the oil spill's real - an potential - economic impact ---- David

The gargantuan blob of light Louisiana crude floating in the Gulf of Mexico has already closed oyster beds, shut down shrimpers, cancelled fishing tournaments and panicked beach hoteliers from New Orleans to Key West.

But the economic impact of the nation's worst ever oil spill may be just beginning.

With the vast majority of the oil floating offshore, where it will land and whom it will affect have become a guessing game fraught with worry. Wherever the oil goes, it threatens to obliterate billions of dollars for the region's tourism and fishing industries.

"It's like waiting for a hurricane to hit," said Mike Voisin, owner of Motivatit Seafood, which harvests oysters from the gulf. "We don't know where it will go. Every day we look at the forecasting maps."

"We're praying hard," said Ed Schroeder, director of the tourist bureau in Pensacola Bay, Fla., where people are wishing away an oily sheen about 10 miles off the coast.

A report of tarballs on the beach led the news in the local paper last week, though it is uncertain whether the tar came from the spill. "If we were picking a time for something like this to hit, it wouldn't be now," Schroeder said. "Our season just started."

At stake are industries that employ tens of thousands of people and generate billions of dollars in economic activity for coastal areas stretching hundreds of miles. Beyond fishing and tourism, the offshore oil business is likely to feel the effects soon, too, as some exploration halts under a federal moratorium, analysts said, and new safety measures are required.

"It's clearly going to make deep-water exploration more costly," said Edward Morse, a Credit Suisse oil analyst. "My rough estimate is that it will have at most a 10 to 15 percent increase in costs developing crude from deep water."

For gulf regions from Texas to Key West, commercial fishing contributes $1 billion to GDP, tourism and recreation contribute $13 billion, and oil and gas contribute $11 billion, according to figures from Charles Colgan of the National Ocean Economics Program.

Shrimp boats idle
As the slick slides toward Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, the damage could spread.

At the Mariah Jade Shrimp Company in Chauvin, La., Kim and David Chauvin have watched as the closing of about a quarter of the gulf to fishing has made the flow of shellfish to their dock just a trickle. The company has three of its own shrimping vessels, which have been enlisted to help contain the spill.

"Our dock is pretty much closed," said Kim Chauvin, 42. "At this point, we are going to be looking for other jobs. . . . What's really scary is wondering how much marine life will be left when this is all over."

The direct impact of the oil on Louisiana's oyster beds has been minimal, Voisin said, but the precautionary closures of the beds are taking a big toll on his business, which is down about 50 percent.

Moreover, he said, the news coverage has made diners wary of gulf shrimp and oysters, once prized by connoisseurs.

"We're beginning to have people ask, 'Where is that seafood from?' And if it's from the gulf, they ask for the buffalo wings and the steak."

Though the majority of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, the gulf region accounts for about a fifth of the nation's oyster production and more than 75 percent of the domestic shrimp output, according to Moody's.

The consequences for tourism could be even greater, analysts say, particularly if the oil begins washing up to the east, especially in Florida. The economies of coastal towns and cities from Bay St. Louis, Miss., to the Florida Panhandle depend on summer beach vacationers and could be devastated.

Rust-colored oil washed ashore on barrier islands off Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday, and residents and business owners are bracing for more.

The tourism and recreation industries in the gulf could take substantial hits from the oil spill, said Colgan, a professor at the University of Southern Maine and the author of a study on the Gulf Coast economy.

"The headlines alone have scared people off," he said, warning that predicting the spill's impact remains difficult at best. "There's a drive to give this disaster dimensions. But this is uncharted territory. None of us who have studied these things over the years have any experience in deep-water events of this size."

'Can they cut it off?'
Reports of tarballs last week in Key West drew news crews, though the balls proved unrelated to the Deepwater Horizon gusher. But the attention highlighted the anxiety along the coast.

"My everyday worry is, when are they going to cut off the flow -- and can they cut it off?" said Jim Meadlock, owner of the Perdido Beach Resort, a 346-room hotel in Alabama.

For now, public perception of the risk poses as much of a problem as the actual impact.

In Panama City, Fla., the tourist development board is spending $800,000 on television and billboard advertising to assure the public that the beaches are clean. Each day, officials transmit a date-stamped picture of the beach to electronic billboards in the Southeastern cities from which their visitors tend to come. The county is getting $1 million in money from BP, and that will be used to pay for the ads, officials said.

"Today's forecast: Clear waters and clean beaches," the billboards say.


Originally published Gulf Coast oil spill could wreck region's tourism and fishing industries

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Armando Galarraga Perfect Game LOST By Blown Umpire Call (VIDEO)

Image via Wikipedia

Bud Selig has got to reverse the call! This is in the best interest of baseball, and for the fans, the behavior of both the pitcher and the umpire was so great, they should both not have to deal with the legacy of the bad call. Right the wrong and announce that you have overruled the call - today!



Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

David http://wyld-about-sports.blogspot.com/

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In-Demand College Degrees Mean Jobs For New Grads

Image via Wikipedia

Good news for us - both students and professors - in business schools these days. See the results below from this study released by Yahoo! Education - David:

Find out which 6 degrees rank highest in terms of employment

By Chris Kyle

Come graduation time, the English major, history buff, computer whiz, and business student all look alike in their caps and gowns.

Their job prospects, on the other hand, look very different.

Corporate consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas polled 100 human resource professionals to find out what graduating students this year can expect from the job market in 2010, and, specifically, which degrees have the best odds of helping students get jobs.

If you're contemplating a return to school and deciding what you want to study, read on for the six degrees that rank highest in terms of employment.

#1 - Health Care Degree

Graduates with recession-proof degrees in health care will find the most success in 2010, according to Challenger. In fact, more than one in four (26.3 percent) HR professionals picked health care as the best bet for job security. Nurses are receiving the most job offers in this category.

Desirable Degrees:
Nursing
Physical Therapy
Pharmacy
Medical Technician

Average Starting Salaries:
Nursing: $47,217
Health & Related Sciences: $30,522

Search for Nursing and Health Care schools now.

#2 - Business Administration Degree

It's no coincidence that business is booming for graduates with a business degree...it's the most popularbachelor's degree in the country.

Graduating with a degree in business administration puts job seekers in the second strongest position overall, just behind health care, according to the Challenger survey.

Desirable Degrees:
Business
Business Administration
Business Administrative Support

Average Starting Salary:
Business Administration: $45,200

Find the right Business school and start your training!

#3 - Computer Science Degree

Computers are an indispensable part of the economy, and so are graduates who study computer science, which ranks as the third most valuable degree in today's job market.

Desirable Degrees:
Computer Science
Technology Support
Information Technology and Systems

Average Starting Salaries:
Computer Science: $61,205
Information Sciences & Systems: $54,038

Search for local and online Technology and Computer Science schools.

#4 - Accounting/Finance Degree

Finance and accounting graduates can expect their fortunes to improve as the economy improves. "Historically, hiring on Wall Street has recovered before the rest of the economy," Richard Lipstein, managing director at Boyden Global Executive Search, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Desirable Degrees:
Accounting
Finance

Average Starting Salaries:
Economics: $52,909
Finance: $49,607
Accounting: $47,982

Search for Accounting/Finance programs.

#5 - Engineering Degree

It might surprise you to learn that engineering degrees are ranked fifth in terms of employment - and not first - but don't start feeling sorry for engineers just yet. According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, eight of the top 10 best-paid majors are in engineering.

Desirable Degrees:
Biomedical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Network Engineering and Administration
Programming and Software Engineering

Average Starting Salaries:
Petroleum Engineering: $86,220
Computer Engineering: $60,879
Mechanical Engineering: $58,392

#6 - Marketing Degree

Demand remains strong for marketing graduates in the business world, though a more general business administration degree, ranked number two overall, gets the edge in today's tight job market because of its broader application.

Desirable Degree:
Marketing

Average Starting Salary:
Marketing: $42,499

Search for schools with local and online Marketing degree programs now.

All salary information from the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Winter 2010 Salary Survey, which looked at starting salary offers for new Class of 2010 college graduates.

Originally published:
In-Demand College Degrees Mean Jobs For New Grads - Yahoo! Education

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