That was the subject line of an email the Veterans Administration’s top mental-health official, Ira Katz, wrote about the alarming number of suicide attempts by veterans. The email went on to say that 12,000 vets try to commit suicide yearly, while the agency had reported publicly fewer than 800.

“Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it,” Katz’s email asks.

Ah, Ira, that would be a yes (public/media relations 101). Does anyone with a lick of knowledge about PR or a concern about doing the right thing work at the VA? If so, they aren’t being listened to by the unethical, uncaring, cover-your-ass administration at the agency.

Katz apologized for the “Shh!” subject line, saying it was an error. No, Ira, the real error was your knowing that our veterans are in such sorry shape that 12,000 of them felt that the only way out was ending their lives — knowing about it and not doing something about it. Knowing about it, and being more concerned about whether and how to hide it.

This an indefensible, unforgivable, criminal cover-up. Once again, I’m ashamed of our government.

Your 15-year-old (daughter, granddaughter, client) is doing a shoot for Vanity Fair, known for some pretty racy magazine covers. She’s being shot by Annie Leibovitz, the photographer famous for her edgy photos (a nude John Lennon with Yoko Ono, a pregnant Demi Moore, etc.). First of all, why did you agree to let her do it? Second of all, why are you surprised with how it turned out?

Miley Cyrus, the Disney Channel star with the squeaky clean image made the mistake of thinking that the magazine and the photographer were on her side, doing what was best for her, a natural feeling for a naive, young woman. So, as she was quoted in the magazine, “That’s what she (Annie) wanted to do, and you can’t say no to Annie.”

Maybe Miley couldn’t say no, but how about her parents, or her handlers, or her agent, or her PR people, or one of the other dozens of hangers-on that collect around celebrities? Not just say “no” to the photo of Miley suggestively wrapped in bed sheet, but “no” to the idea of posing for Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz in the first place.

Of course, as a Disney representative suggested, the magazine and the photographer exploited Miley. And they got exactly what they wanted: An uproar about the cover photo, millions of dollars of free publicity, and increased magazine sales. But the so-called adults in her life allowed it to happen.

The recent flap over Jack Welch’s supposed blast against his successor at GE, CEO Jeff Immelt, is a perfect example of life in the “soundbite world.”

After appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Welch said Immelt had a credibility problem after missing earnings projections. “Here’s the screw-up. You made a promise that you deliver this. And you miss three weeks later. Jeff has a credibility issue. He’s getting his ass kicked.”

The media jumped on the criticism — why not, it makes great headlines, “Welch slams his handpicked successor.” But in reality, it exemplifies the old joke we had in the newsroom: “Let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story!”

The facts are that Welch’s entire comments about GE were really praising the company and its CEO. He was chastising people for their overreaction to the company missing its numbers.

“But, let’s put GE in perspective… The model isn’t broken,” Welch went on to say. “At 50,000 feet stare at a company who made four plus billion dollars, down six percent over a glitch in financial services, going to make $20 billion dollars this year.”

Yes, maybe he wasn’t as clear as he could have or should have been. Inflammatory words like “screw up” and “getting his ass kicked” are asking for negative attention. But almost anyone who listened to the whole thing would have understood Welch’s point. In fact, he walked out of the studio thinking he’d stood up for his old company.

To his credit, when he realized how his statements were being interpreted, he didn’t blame the media for overreacting (which they did). He took full responsibility and apologized. “Nothing is worse than having a predecessor perceived as commenting negatively on a successor, particularly when the successor is doing a terrific job in a difficult environment.”

Welch said he “stepped in it,” and that he would “endeavor in retirement not to step in it again.” Actually, I think the media have the dirty shoes.

The “Company Rocks” blog cited my blog post about the fig leaf position, and added an interesting observation. In a photo taken the night of their most recent debate, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama do not project confidence and authority. They don’t appear “Presidential.” Because their hands are clasped in front of them (protecting their privates?), they come across as weak and vulnerable.

If one of them is elected, they’ll learn how important it is to stand tall, with hands at their sides. In every picture I see of US presidents or world leaders, I never spot a fig leaf. They know that to be in charge, they have to look in charge.

Sweet revenge. Who hasn’t dreamed of it at least once in their life? Well, Flagler Productions in Lenexa, Kansas, is living that dream. Owners of the small business have the largest company in the world by the short hairs. All because Wal-Mart made and is making stupid mistakes.

For 30 years, Flagler videotaped Wal-Mart events: annual meetings, shareholder meetings, sales meetings, store openings, etc. There was never a written contract between the two companies, just a handshake agreement.

In 2006, Wal-Mart dumped Flagler (nine days after Mike Flagler sold the company to two of his employees) and hired another firm to do its productions. As you might expect, the decision devastated the tiny company, which counted on Wal-Mart for 90% of its business.

After laying off most of its employees and moving into a smaller office, Flagler decided those thousands of videos could help keep the company afloat. They offered to sell them to Wal-Mart for several million dollars, but the retailer offered just $500,000, claiming no one else would be interested in the footage.

Yeah, right. Historians, the media, union representatives, and especially plaintiffs’ lawyers are lapping them up. One lawsuit against Wal-Mart claims widespread sex discrimination against women employees. Attorney Joe Sellers says at least two of the videos help bolster his case. In one, founder Sam Walton says, “We know we haven’t gotten as far as we’d like to be advancing women in our company. But we’re very conscious of it.”

For a company that’s known for its hard-nosed negotiations with suppliers, how could they be so negligent to let Flagler work without a contract, and most of all, allow the production company to keep ownership of the videotapes?

Then Wal-Mart compounded that original ludicrous behavior with its most recent decision to not immediately buy the tapes from Flagler. A couple million dollars will seem like a small price to pay if the company ends up losing even one of the lawsuits that are presently in court. And what about the hits to the company’s reputation? What is that worth?

It’s difficult to figure out: Is Wal-Mart so breathtakingly stupid, or just arrogant?

Now we’re in real trouble — we’ve lost our sense of humor. Yes, the state of Arizona has some real problems, but when controversy over a clever, funny April Fools joke overshadows the serious issues the state faces, we’ve lost perspective.

I’ve been known to be gullible. I can be taken in by the simplest of jokes. But how could anyone be fooled and not be amused by the prank KTAR-FM and the Arizona Department of Transportation pulled on April 1st?

KTAR with the help of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s spokesperson, Doug Nintzel, announced that, overnight, Phoenix’s major freeways had become toll roads. Now drivers would have to pay $1.01 to drive on Loop 101, $2.02 to drive on route 202 and just $.51 (what a bargain) to drive on Arizona 51.

And people actually believed it! They complained to the station. Even the Governor’s office got involved.

The legislature can’t even pass the state budget during a months long session, and yet they were able to push through a major statute turning highways into toll roads overnight? How could anyone believe this absurdity, and how could the Governor’s office even consider it important enough to take disciplinary actions?

This was not a joke about race, religion, politics, gender, sexual preferences or any other “sensitive” subject. It was not spiteful or in bad taste. It was simply fun, a way to make a mundane day more interesting.

And yet, we’re not even allowed to appreciate a station’s sense humor.

I’m frowning.

We all know the best policy with customers is to under promise and over deliver. Unfortunately, British Airways got it backwards and the result has been a public relations disaster.

For two decades the airline has been hyping its new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, highlighting its cutting edge design, high quality materials and upscale shopping and dining. Officials claimed the high tech systems would able to handle dozens of planes at the same time and process 12,000 bags an hour, marking a new era for the British Airways, and ending what many called the “Heathrow Hassle.”

Instead, on opening day of T5, travelers faced more chaos than ever, with flight delays, cancellations, lost luggage, long lines and poorly trained staff. Even four days later, the airline still hasn’t recovered from the fiasco. Flights are still being canceled or delayed, baggage hasn’t been delivered, and passengers are stranded.

Terminal operations wasn’t the only problem. The PR department also dropped the ball. At first, British Airways called the situation “teething troubles.” Spokespersons broke one of the basic laws of PR by blaming BAA, the airport operator, for the problems.

Eventually, an obviously uncomfortable director of operations read a statement to reporters, but refused to take questions. Finally, the CEO, Willie Walsh, stepped up and apologized for the chaos.

Many commentators claim this is not only a black eye for British Airways, but also for Great Britain and the UK, which are trying to position themselves as global players. Also of concern is whether this bodes poorly on how Britain will manage the Olympics in 2012.

I suppose I should be happy that the CEO of Wal-mart, Lee Scott, was bluntly honest at the Wall Street Journal’s recent ECO:nomics conference when he admitted, “We are not green.” How refreshing, some might say. But from a PR/media relations standpoint, I think it was the wrong thing to do.

Inevitably, that juicy, loaded statement, “We are not green,” was featured in the WSJ headline, putting the focus on Scott’s outspokenness, and ignoring the rest of what he said that helped temper the statement.

He went on to explain that Wal-Mart is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, but that the company has to grow at the same time. He added that the company is working with its suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging in its products, not just to please environmentalists, but also to save money.

Then, another unfortunate, flippant statement. When asked when he expected the company to meet its goal of having zero waste, Scott said, “I haven’t a clue.”

Besides inviting sensational headlines, Scott’s statements undermine Wal-Mart’s heavily publicized efforts, both on its website and in newspaper articles, to push its going green strategies. He and his company come off as hypocritical.

Much smarter to be more tactful and less sensational. “We’re working hard to reduce our footprint, but it’s not an easy task. We have to continue to grow, yet at the same time find ways to cut waste. That’s why we’ve asked our suppliers to…….”

Lee Scott is CEO of the largest company in the world, with critics ready to pounce at any provocation. He needs to be more careful about what he says in public.

Will Southwest Airlines be able to recover from its most recent PR crisis? This time it’s not about scantily clad women being kicked off airplanes, but something much more serious — safety. The FAA proposed a record $10.2 million fine against the airline, charging it missed deadlines to inspect planes for structural flaws during 2006 and 2007.

If it were any other airline, I’d doubt that it could recover with its reputation intact. But Southwest has in its favor something that none of the others bring to the table — good will. Over the last three decades, it’s consistently been able to put good will into the trust bank.

From former CEO Herb Kelleher to present CEO Gary Kelly, Southwest has been open and available to the media and the public. Southwest is the first and only airline to start a blog, allowing comments from customers. And what other company, let alone airline, would let itself be vulnerable to TV cameras filming a reality show?

It also doesn’t hurt that Southwest has always been about fun and excellent customer service. It consistently rates favorably on measurements such as on-time flights, lost baggage, and complaints. Yes, the company has alienated customers occasionally with some of its actions, but it has always come back because of its transparency and ability to build relationships with the media and the public.

Now Southwest is making heavy withdrawals from its very full trust bank. I predict it will overcome this latest set-back with good PR and by doing the right thing. It’s a lesson for other companies and organizations. Depositing good will in the trust bank can pay big dividends.

You’re exhausted, you’re distracted, you’re angry. Not a good time to do an interview. Samantha Power, former free-lance journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner, foreign relations expert and adviser to Barack Obama, had to resign after making one of the most common mistakes in the media relations handbook — forgetting for a second that you’re talking to a journalist.

In an interview focused on her most recent book, not the Obama campaign, Power let her guard down and told The Scotsman reporter, Gerri Peev, “We f**** up in Ohio. In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it because she knows Ohio’s the only place they can win. She’s a monster too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything.”

We can imagine Power’s horror at hearing the word “monster” come out of her mouth and then desperately trying to save herself by declaring the statement “off the record.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Going off the record is always a dangerous proposition, but if you decide to risk it, you must declare the rules ahead of time and get the reporter’s agreement.

Many people have been in her shoes. You’ve been talking for awhile, in person or on the phone, and start feeling you’ve developed a relationship with the reporter, that they’re your friend. Then comes that unguarded remark, after you forget that every word you say can be in the paper tomorrow, and you expect your “friend” to save you. Sometimes they do, but when it’s a highly visible, cutthroat political race, that’s unlikely.

Besides remembering that reporters aren’t your friends, I think a couple of other lessons come out of this example. First, interviews don’t have boundaries. Yes, the story was supposed to be about Power’s new book, but that doesn’t mean if a journalist hears something juicy (or asks a question) on another topic she won’t write about it.

Second, just because you know how to ask questions doesn’t mean you can answer them effectively. As a former free-lance journalist, Samantha Power knew media relations from the reporter’s perspective. But even former reporters aren’t automatically good spokespeople. They have to learn the “rules” and practice them.

As a side note, while I realize why Power had to resign, I’m sorry it had to happen. I agree with CBS newsman, Bob Schieffer, who says, as name-calling goes in politics, “monster”is pretty mild.