Bill Clinton offered his support to Tiger Woods in a phone call with the embattled golf star, a spokesman for the former president confirms.
“President Clinton spoke with Tiger and wished him well,” Matt McKenna tells PEOPLE confirming a report in Golf Digest that the two had spoken.
It wasn’t clear when the former president spoke with Woods or how the phone call came about. But Clinton, who has navigated his own infidelity scandals, offered words of encouragement to the golfer, who is reportedly in an Arizona rehab facility for therapy.
A new study from the University of California, Davis, estimates that shareholders of Woods sponsors Nike and Gatorade maker PepsiCo have lost $5 billion to $12 billion in market value since news broke about the golf champ’s marital infidelity.
While the public has focused on how the scandal has hit Woods’ endorsement earnings, the UC Davis study said the loss to shareholders of the companies who sponsor him would amount to decades’ worth of endorsement income.
When you want to make someone a key element of your entire marketing strategy, maybe it’s a good idea to vet him first. A lot of people knew what kind of man Tiger was.
The L.A. Timesreports that the King of Pop has died at age 50:
Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.
I still remember reports that Jackson wanted to live to be 150.
There will be no great comeback now. Rest in peace, Michael.
Nadya Suleman worked as a stripper who danced totally nude and was fired for breaking the rules – letting men touch her and touching them. Can’t say I’m surprised.
There have already been questions whether Canada’s socialized health care system with its lack of equipment delayed measures that could have saved Richardson (see here), and here is a new article looking into this. It doesn’t mention the government-controlled nature of Canada’s health care, of course – it’s CNN, after all.
A friend mentioned a couple of days ago that she wondered if Richardson’s death from “talk and die” syndrome would have been prevented had she fallen sick in the United States, and then today, this PR e-mail from a think tank that promotes health savings accounts arrived in my inbox:
NEWS REPORTS REVEAL NATASHA RICHARDSON’S DEATH MAY HAVE BEEN PREVENTED WITH U.S. HEALTHCARE
Lack of Equipment Under Government-Run System Delayed Lifesaving Measures
Washington, DC – News reports of the skiing accident, medical treatment and eventual death of actress Natasha Richardson last week shed new light on the limits of the Canadian health care. The timeline of the afternoon’s events indicate that the lack of medical equipment—a trauma helicopter and basic CT scanning equipment at the local hospital—delayed the treatment that may have saved her life.
Well, it’s certainly possible. But I’d hope the Natasha Richardson Proof—the Canadian health care system didn’t work perfectly for Richardson, ergo it sucks—doesn’t become some major PR tactic during a health care debate, because it’s a serious case of missing the forest for one tree.
Possible? Yes. Proven? No.
On another note, when someone is treated and then dies, can you really say that the health care system didn’t work perfectly for her? “I am calling from the hospital to say that our health care system didn’t work perfectly for your mother. Do you want an autopsy?”
So that’s what all those laid-off journalists are doing now:
In its short history, Twitter — a microblogging tool that uses 140 characters in bursts of text — has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal.
But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers — ghost Twitterers, if you will — who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star’s own voice.
Because Twitter is seen as an intimate link between celebrities and their fans, many performers are not willing to divulge the help they use to put their thoughts into cyberspace.
Britney Spears recently advertised for someone to help, among other things, create content for Twitter and Facebook. Kanye West recently told New York magazine that he has hired two people to update his blog. “It’s just like how a designer would work,” he said.
Via Dan Drezner, who sees more future employment opportunities for writers:
Guest Twitterers are just the beginning. I see a robust future for Twitter script doctors (”the first clause is great, but the last three words died in the 18-24 demographic.”), Twitter proofreaders (”are we using the English or American version of ‘harbor’?”), and — in world politics — Twitter translators and diplomatic advisors (”Mr. President, I’m not sure that twittering ‘the dollar is here to stay, motherf***ers!’ is really the right message to send right before the London summit.”)
Harvard Economics Prof. Greg Mankiw’s look at Jay Leno’s real motives for asking eBay to block the sale of free tickets to his show. Plus an email from the actual seller of the tickets in response to Prof. Mankiw’s post.
He dances with a fat chick, and then politely declines a request to donate one of his testicles to another participant. Even his interpreter is having a great time.
We can learn a bit about Schwarzenegger’s politics from his own words:
“I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.” Arnold Schwarzenegger
“That was another thing I will never forgive the Republican Party for. I was ashamed to call myself a Republican during that period.” Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Clinton impeachment
“My relationship to power and authority is that I’m all for it. People need somebody to watch over them. Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.” Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 1990 interview with U.S. News
“I was always dreaming about very powerful people, dictators and things like that. I was just always impressed by people who could be remembered for hundreds of years, or even, like Jesus, be for thousands of years remembered.” Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1977 film Pumping Iron
“You have to do everything possible to win no matter what.” Arnold Schwarzenegger
“I was born to be a leader. I love the fact that millions of people look up to me.” Arnold Schwarzenegger
“The public doesn’t care about figures.” Arnold Schwarzenegger discussing his economic views
