Superstorm Sandy flooded parts of the New York City subway system, rail yards and bus depots, creating what officials are calling the biggest disaster of its 108 years in existence.
"The New York City subway system?has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night," MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said in a statement. "Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on our entire transportation system, in every borough and county of the region."
In addition to flooding in a handful of tunnels and bus garages, Lhota said a portion of the Hudson line on the Metro-North Railroad had lost power.
"We are assessing the extent of the damage and beginning the process of recovery," he said. A time frame for when one of the world's largest public transportation networks would be back up and running was not yet available.
Hurricane Sandy: Full Coverage
The subway system, which averaged 5.2 million weekly riders last year, was preemptively shut down Sunday evening.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he hoped the closure would keep New York-area residents from being "up and about."
"[Trains are] not intended to be submerged," he said. "And we want people to stay at home."
The city is planning on an aggressive bus strategy during subway repairs. It may include limiting or shutting lanes for private vehicles in order to help expedite bus traffic.
Mass transit was also preemptively shut down in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
ABC News' Richard Esposito contributed to this report.
"Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people ? a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence."
So wrote John Jay in Federalist No. 2, wherein he describes Americans as a "band of brethren united to each other by the strongest ties."
That "band of brethren united" no longer exists.
No longer are we "descended from the same ancestors."
Indeed, as we are daily instructed, it is our "diversity" ? our citizens can trace their ancestors to every member state of the United Nations ? that "is our strength." And this diversity makes us a stronger, better country than the America of Eisenhower and JFK.
No longer do we speak the same language. To tens of millions, Spanish is their language. Millions more do not use English in their homes. Nor are their children taught in English in the schools.
As for "professing the same religion," the Christianity of Jay and the Founding Fathers has been purged from all public institutions. One in 5 Americans profess no religious faith. The mainline Protestant churches ? the Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran and Presbyterian ? have been losing congregants for a half-century. Secularism is the religion of the elites. It alone is promulgated in public schools.
Are we attached to "the same principles of government"?
Half the nation believes it is the duty of government to feed, house, educate and medicate the population and endlessly extract from the well-to-do whatever is required to make everybody more equal.
Egalitarianism has triumphed over freedom. Hierarchy, the natural concomitant of freedom, is seen as undemocratic.
Are we similar "in our manners and customs"? Are we agreed upon what is good or even tolerable in music, literature, art?
Do we all seek to live by the same moral code? Abortion, a felony in the 1950s, is now a constitutional right. Homosexual marriage, an absurdity not long ago, is the civil rights cause du jour.
Dissent from the intolerant new orthodoxy and you are a bigot, a hater, a homophobe, an enemy of women's rights.
Recent wars ? Vietnam, Iraq ? have seen us not "fighting side by side" but fighting side against side.
Racially, morally, politically, culturally, socially, the America of Jay and the Federalist Papers is ancient history. Less and less do we have in common. And to listen to cable TV is to realize that Americans do not even like one another. If America did not exist as a nation, would these 50 disparate states surrender their sovereignty and independence to enter such a union as the United States of 2012?
Nor are we unique in sensing that we are no longer one. Scotland, Catalonia and Flanders maneuver to break free of the nations that contain their peoples. All over the world, peoples are disaggregating along the lines of creed, culture, tribe and faith.
What has this to do with the election of 2012? Everything.
For if America is to endure as a nation, her peoples are going to need the freedom to live differently and the space to live apart, according to their irreconcilable beliefs. Yet should Barack Obama win, the centralization of power and control will continue beyond the point of no return.
His replacement of any retiring Supreme Court justice with another judicial activist ? a Sonia Sotomayor, an Elena Kagan ? would negate a half-century of conservative labors and mean that abortion on demand ? like slavery, a moral abomination to scores of millions ? is forever law in all 50 states.
President Obama speaks now of a budget deal in which Democrats agree to $2.50 in spending cuts if the Republicans agree to $1 in tax increases. But given the character of his party ? for whom Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, food stamps, Head Start, earned income tax credits and Pell Grants are holy icons ? any deal Obama cuts with Republicans in return for higher taxes will be like the deal Ronald Reagan eternally regretted.
The tax hikes become permanent; the budget cuts are never made.
In the first debate, Mitt Romney said that in crafting a budget that consumes a fourth of the economy, he would ask one question: "Is the program so critical that it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?"
If a President Romney held to that rule, it would spell an end to any new wars of choice and all foreign aid and grants to global redistributionsts ? such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It would entail a review of all U.S. alliances dating back to the Cold War, which have U.S. troops on every continent and in a hundred countries.
Obama offers more of the stalemate America has gone through for the past two years.
Romney alone offers a possibility of hope and change.
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?" To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
If you are setting up an online business, you will need to market it aggressively in order to improve search engine ranking. One of the tools you will have to use for the marketing of your website will be web site linking. This has become a basic tool for all websites that hope to be successful with their target audience.
Building links to websites haphazardly will not result in the success that you hope for. Like all other marketing tools, you need to develop an effective marketing strategy for web site linking. The following steps will guide you as you determine the best approach to your link building strategy.
As a business owner, you understand the importance of living by the proverb ?don?t keep all your eggs in one basket?. This proverb applies to all aspects of life and more so in marketing. There are several strategies available for link building. However, you cannot depend on a particular strategy. You need to use as many strategies as you can afford to build links. Monitor each strategy and determine which is the most effective. Continue to develop the most effective strategies but keep using the other strategies as well. You will need all the links you can get.
When you start a business, you do not expect to make large profits within the first few months. You cannot expect the same from link building. Do not expect to have a large number of links within the first few months. Web site linking takes time. It also takes hard work. There is no magical formula that will allow you to have natural links to your website. Linking schemes that do not allow the natural building of links will cause your website more harm than good. They will only result in the same page ranking and numerous links to irrelevant websites or link sharing. It is therefore important for you to be patient.
It is important for you to gather information about ethical web site linking before you choose the strategy you will use for building your links to improve search engine ranking. One of the most important functions of link building is for search engine optimization. Popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo have their own guidelines for how ranking is done and what they look for. If you are in violation of their guidelines, you will have your website blacklisted or suspended for some time. You can avoid these penalties by finding out what the guidelines are for web site linking and adhering to them.
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) ? What's real estate mogul Donald Trump got against President Barack Obama? The president says it's an old grudge that goes back ? way, way back ? to their childhood days in Kenya.
"We had constant run-ins on the soccer fields," Obama told "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno during a tongue-in-cheek knock on Trump Wednesday night. "He wasn't very good and resented it. When we finally moved to America, I thought it would be over."
Trump became a leading voice in the "birther" movement, the discredited but very much alive conspiracy theory that Obama was actually born outside of the U.S. and isn't constitutionally eligible to be president. Earlier Wednesday, Trump offered to donate $5 million to the president's charity of choice if he would release his college and passport records.
Wisecracks aside, Obama told Leno that he has never actually met Trump.
When Leno asked Obama if he was glad the presidential debates are over, the president responded, "You know, I was sort of getting the hang of it." Obama, whose performance in the first debate was widely panned, said he didn't do an effective job of energetically outlining the contrast of visions between him and Republican Mitt Romney.
Part of the problem with a debate, Obama said, is that it's not a natural way of communicating ? having an argument with someone as you sit next to him.
"Well," Leno said, "you're married."
Obama shot back: "But the difference is, with Michelle, I just concede every point."
Asked which team he was backing in the World Series, the Detroit Tigers or the San Francisco Giants, Obama managed to get in a dig at Romney: "I will say, I've spent a lot of time in Detroit lately, and I didn't want to let go Detroit go bankrupt. So in this particular World Series, I might be a little partial."
Natasha is a reporter for TechCrunch, joining September 2012, based out of London. She arrives after a stint reviewing smartphones for CNET UK and, prior to that, more than five years covering business technology for silicon.com (now folded into TechRepublic.com). At silicon she focused on mobile and wireless, telecoms and networking, and IT skills issues, and has also freelanced... ? Learn More
Adobe has put out some more research into online advertising. This time it?s not an Index of the market but a poll of 1,250 U.S. consumers and marketers? views on online advertising. The survey?makes amusing reading at times ???almost half of the respondents agree ?online advertising is creepy and stalks you?, and more than half agree?that ?most marketing is a bunch of B.S.?. The poll also underlines the ongoing problem with online ads failing to capture people?s attention ? only in-app/in-game ads fared worse in the battle for consumers? attention, with print-based ads and TV commercials grabbing far more consumer mindshare
Almost a third of consumers (30 percent) think online advertizing is not effective, while more than half (54 percent) reckon web banner ads don?t work. Unsurprisingly a smaller percentage of marketers held those views (16 percent and 33 percent respectively).
A sizeable majority (66 percent) of consumers polled believe TV commercials are more effective than online advertising. The two most preferred places to look at an ad are print magazines and when watching a favourite TV show. But a favourite website was third in the list, just above billboards ? albeit only favoured by 11 percent of consumer respondents.
?Annoying? and ?distracting? were the two most frequently used adjectives to describe online ads, the survey found. A marginal two percent of respondents claim never to have seen an online ad
On the social media front, the survey found a small majority (57 percent) of consumers have ?liked? something on social media on behalf of a brand they enjoy. More than half (53 percent) said they would very much like to have a social media ?dislike? button.
When survey respondents were asked what they would do if they saw a friend like a product on social media, almost a third (29 percent) said they would check the product out, five percent said they would like the product themselves and a click-happy two percent reckoned they?d buy the product right away
In terms of which types of ads are considered most effective, the survey found a large proportion (28 percent) of respondents rated user-generated content as an effective ad medium. Paid search listings are considered the least effective ? with just three percent of consumers rating them as effective
WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? Wilhelm Brasse, a former Auschwitz prisoner who survived the camp after the Nazis discovered he was a professional photographer and put him to work taking pictures of other prisoners, has died. He was 95.
Brasse, who was not Jewish, was sent to Auschwitz at 22 as a political prisoner for trying to sneak out of German-occupied Poland in the spring of 1940. Because he had worked before World War II in a photography studio in Katowice, in southern Poland, he was put to work in the camp's photography and identification department.
A spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum, Jaroslaw Mensfelt, says that Brasse died Tuesday in Zywiec, a town in southern Poland.
Brasse was born in 1917 to a Polish mother and Austrian father.
The Bainbridge Public Library will host a program on green, energy efficient homes at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23 at the library.
The Bainbridge Library and Housing Resources Board Community Land Trust are sponsoring a ?Home at the Library? speakers series that explores how diverse housing builds community.
The smartest investment in our community may be the energy saving elements we use in our homes. Join a conversation that will explore cutting edge energy and green practices in residential construction such as zero gain and passive home building. Panelists include Charlie Wenzlau, Wenzlau Architects; Robert Moore, Robert Moore Architect; and Jonathan Davis, Davis Studio Architecture & Design.
I have to be honest: Bokx109 has been everything to me except a restaurant. I?ve sat at the bar for cocktails a few times. I?ve partied in a cabana for a bachelorette party. Most recently, I sipped, tasted and mingled at the Urban Grape two-year anniversary party. But dinner? Nope. There was one bar incident involving onion rings that left me a little lack luster about their food.
Octopus Carpaccio
Enter Chef Stephen Coe. As a sous chef under his predecessor, he has taken over the reigns with gusto. You can find him in the thick of things in Bokx109?s open kitchen. For a closer look, reserve the Chef?s table and Coe will cook right in front of you. Sounds fun, right? I was able to dine at the chefs counter last week, as Bokz109 set off to showcase their new fall menu.
Coe at the Chef?s counter
A few quick general notes about Bokx109 for those unfamiliar with the space. This American Prime restaurant and bar sits nestled into Hotel Indigo, just off 95 and walking distance from the end of the Riverside green line in Newton. The bar is always packed, filled with lively patrons and sometimes live music. The dining room is situated such that noise from the bar does not carry over, but instead provides a cozy atmosphere. Appropriate for a business dinner, first date or 15-year anniversary, the attentive wait staff offers high-quality service. Situated just off 95/128 in Newton, and walking distance from Riverside station on the green line, this ?destination? for city dwellers may just be worth the trip.
Our group was presented with a 12-course (!!!) menu with wine pairings. Here are my highlights.
Presentation: This dish was one of the most interesting and impressive presentations I?ve ever seen. A wine glass is served atop the sacchetti and is tipped back away from you to allow the dishes aromas to be released in a control manner towards your nose. For such a dramatic demonstration, these small bites of pasta lived up to the hype.
Pear & Mascarpone Sacchetti, stuffed with pear and Mascarpone, topped with a cream sauce, arugula, pickled red onion, and lemon
Classic: As much as I love oysters in-the-raw, I also enjoyed them dressed up and this appetizer is one I would order again in a heartbeat.? The chive really stood out in this dish, its herbal notes helping to break through some of the creaminess of the fondue.
Grilled Oysters topped with fennel pollen, tomatoes, panko bread crumbs, pancetta, and chive fondue
Comfort Food: As fall approaches, I?m craving soup more and more. This dish takes the idea of tomato soup and grilled cheese and morphs it into a beautiful dish fit for fine dining. Tomato bisque was just creamy enough without being too heavy, and the simple piece of fried mozzarella brings in that grilled cheese element we all know and love.
Tomato Heirloom Soup-Cambell style, tomato, garlic, onions, basil and finished with parmesan foam
Delicate: Large chunks of lobster were nicely cooked and served with house-made pasta, part of Coe?s program to make everything from scratch.
Lobster Cavatelli ? Lobster meat, shitake mushrooms, edamame, and finished with a chive cream sauce
Daring: I?ve had rabbit three times now and this has been my favorite preparation thus far. Wrapped in bacon, the rabbit stayed tender and moist while butter beans added a contrasting texture.
Decon Rabbit ? Bacon wrapped rabbit with stewed butter bean
Decadent: Braised veal cheeks was my favorite dish of the evening. Falling-apart tender, in a rich glaze that left me wanting more. The true essence of fall comfort, with all of the decadence.
Sous Vide Veal Cheeks with Tarragon Pappardelle and Parsnip puree
Wine:? The Hogue Reserve Cabernet is bottled only for Bokz109 in the state, and was an incredible pairing with both the veal cheeks as well as our dessert course.
Sweet: A stunning dessert plate was filled with small bites and a little bubbly. The highlight here for me was Chocollate Cyclone, which was as fun to eat as it was delicious with a rich chocolate mouse stuffed into a dark chocolate cone and topped with whipped cream and caramel cone.? The twist had sweet notes of an ice-cream cone, and like a fall version of a summer ice cream cone delight.
Blueberry & Prosecco Shooter, Strawberry & White Balsamic Jelly, Petite Tiramisu, Chocolate Cyclone
Fun: Chef brought is back to our childhood with this very fun, mini Popsicle topped with Pop Rocks!
Pop Rocks ? Frozen Lemon Souffl? with pop rocks
As Chef Coe expertly cooked and plated in front of us, we got a fabulous view of the lively kitchen behind him. I know some argue that they do not want to see their food being cooked, but enjoy open kitchens and watching the hustle and bustle, hard work and toil that goes into every plate of food that is served in from of you. Coe?s enthusiasm is contagious, and he?s one of the most approachable and easy-to-talk-to chefs I?ve met, and I wish him success at the helm of Bokx109.
These items are expected to be on Bokx109?s fall menu, not yet available but check their website for the new menu.
I was a guest of Bokx109; all opinions are my own.
What childhood item have you seen incorporated into a menu recently?
If you followed the launch of Nikon's J2 interchangeable-lens compact recently, then waking up to today's announcement of a higher-specced V2 probably won't come as a huge surprise. Nevertheless, whereas the J2 was frustratingly incremental compared to the J1, the V2 will likely represent a more significant upgrade when it lands on shelves at the end of November. For a start, the magnesium alloy camera has been bestowed with a sizable grip, which makes a vast difference to its ergonomics -- it feels much more secure and manageable in the hand, without hurting the small and lightweight appeal of this form factor. Nikon has found room for a pop-up flash too, which is certainly nice to have. The mode dial has moved to the top of the camera and now includes the four main shooting modes (P/S/A/M) -- a change which, in one fell swoop, helps the entire remainder of the control system to become more intuitive and accessible. A new processing engine allows the camera to shoot 15 fps with continuous focus (versus 10 fps with the V1), with Nikon claiming that AF speed has been improved as well. And as for the bad news? It's waiting for you after the break.
Publix Ad-This is a great week at Publix!! You?ll find great deals on several BOGO items such as Halloween candy, tea bags, baby food, cheap Chex Mix and Cheez-It crackers in this Publix ad! My favorite deals are on Caribou Coffee and Publix sweet tea! My kids LOVE the tea from Publix They call it ?church tea? since it tastes like the tea they drink at church functions whenever food is present! I am also glad to see such great deals on Totino?s pizza and pizza rolls!! With a ton of kids at my house everyday after school, these little puppies come in handy!!
You may want to check out the updated Publix coupon policy, and print off a copy to take to the store with you. Prices in this week?s Publix ad are those for the south Ga./north Fla. area. If your Publix store takes Harveys or Food Lion coupons, then please check out these Harveys and Food Lion Internet Printables to stack with manufacturer coupons for greater savings!!
Also, remember to head over to your Publix store?s customer service counter before you begin shopping. They usually have a lot of coupon booklets and fliers that you can pick up to use while you are here in the store, or for a later shopping trip! Keep in mind that others will be looking for the too and, so don?t clean them out! Leave something for someone else. It?s such a bummer when you have your heart set on a particular savings booklet, only to learn someone has grabbed the all! So, let?s just live by the golden rule, ?Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You?, then everyone will have a chance to save money!
$1 off Barilla Pasta AND Barilla Sauce, exp. 11/17/12 (SS 09/23/12) $1 off Barilla Pasta AND Sauce, exp. 11/24/12 (SS 09/30/12) As low as $1.58 for both!
$0.75/2 Bar-S Classic Jumbo or Bun Length Franks, exp. 12/10/12 (RP 10/07/12 R)
$2/1 Caribou Bag of Coffee, exp. 10/28/12 (SS 09/16/12 R) As low as $2.99
$1/1 Jimmy Dean Product, exp. 11/11/12 (RP 10/07/12) $0.55/1 Jimmy Dean Product, exp. 11/11/12 (RP 10/07/12 R) As low as $1.79
Not on sale in all stores
$1/2 Pedigree Treats For Dogs, exp. 11/30/12 (RP 10/14/12) As low as $3.99
$1/2 Post Honey Bunches of Oats, exp. 11/18/12 (SS 10/07/12 R) As low as $1.14
B1G1 Stride ID Gum, exp. 11/10/12 (SS 09/16/12 R) As low as free
$0.75/1 Activia Product, exp. 10/28/12 (SS 09/16/12 R) As low as $1.25
$1/1 Jell-O Refrigerated Snack (SS 10/21/12 R) As low as $.66
$0.75/2 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges, Mini Babybel Cheese or Smooth Sensations Cream Cheese Spread, exp. 10/31/12 (SS 08/19/12 R) As low as $2.13
$1/3 Voskos Greek Yogurt or Voskos Crunch, exp. 11/2/12 (Publix Yellow Advantage Flyer ) As low as $.66
$0.75/1,?$1/2 Marie Callender's Single Serve Comfort Bakes Entree, exp. 11/4/12 (SS 09/23/12 R) As low as $1.75
$1/1 Frito Lay Variety Pack, exp. 10/31/12 (Publix Stock Up for Storm Season Booklet) As low as $4.99
$0.75/3 Nature Valley Granola Bars or Nature Valley Granola Thins printable $0.50/1 Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bars printable?if included in sale? $0.50/1,?$1/2 Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bars, exp. 11/10/12 (SS 09/16/12 R) $0.75/3 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Nature Valley Granola Thins, Fiber One Chewy Bars, Fiber One 90 Calorie Chewy Bars or Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownies, exp. 12/1/12 (GM 10/07/12) $0.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars or Granola Thins, exp. 11/3/12 (SS 09/09/12) FREE Chex Cereal wyb Nature Valley Granola Bar Value Pack, exp. 11/2/12 (Publix Yellow Advantage Flyer ) As low as $2.50 OR if your store doubles, then $2.00
$1 off Dr. Pepper Diet or Ten, exp. 11/30/12 (SS 10/07/12)?if a Pepsi product in your area it is not in North Alabama As low as $2.00, if Dr. Pepper is a Pepsi Product in your area
$1/1 Centrum Flavor Burst Multivitamin @Walmart printable $1/1 Centrum Silver Multivitamin @Walmart printable $2/1 Centrum, Centrum Silver, or Centrum Flavor Burst Multivitamin printable $2/1 Centrum Specialist Multivitamin printable $1.75/1 Centrum Flavor Burst Chews printable $5/1 Centrum ProNutrients Supplement printable $7/1 Centrum Multivitamin and ProNutrients Supplement printable $1.75/1 Centrum Silver Multivitamin (Target mfr.) $2.25/1 Centrum Silver Multivitamin printable $3/1 Centrum Cardio or Performance printable $3/1 Centrum Adults Under 50, Women Under 50, or Men Under 50 printable $1/1 Centrum Flavor Burst, exp. 11/30/12 (ALL YOU?Sept '12) $5/2 Caltrate, Centrum Multivitamin, Centrum ProNutrients, Centrum Specialist, or Emergen-C Product, exp. 10/26/12 (Publix Green Advantage) $3/1 Centrum Flavor Burst Chews, exp. 11/24/12 (RP 09/30/12) $5/1 Centrum Pronutrients Supplement, exp. 12/31/12 (RP 10/14/12) $2/1 Centrum Regular, Silver or Flavor Boost Multivitamin, exp. 11/10/12 (RP 10/14/12) $2/1 Centrum Specialist Multivitamin, exp. 11/10/12 (RP 10/14/12) FREE 5-Piece Pink Cookware Set: 9.25" Saute Pan, Colander, Flexible Non-Slip Cutting Board, Turner and Tongs wyb $30 in One Transaction of Select Products printable $15 MIR on Select P&G Products printable $1/1 CoverGirl or Queen Cosmetic Item, exp. 10/26/12 (Publix Green Advantage) $3/1 CoverGirl Simply Ageless, exp. 10/31/12 (P&G 09/30/12) $3/2,?$1/1?CoverGirl Product, exp. 10/31/12 (P&G 09/30/12) $3/2,?$1/1?CoverGirl Product, exp. 12/31/12 (Parade 09/23/12) $5/2 CoverGirl Lip Products, exp. 10/31/12 (RP 09/16/12) $3/1 CoverGirl Olay Foundation, exp. 12/31/12 (Parade 09/23/12)
$1/1 Dove Beauty Bar, exp. 10/28/12 (RP 09/30/12) As low as $1.39
$2/1 Huggies Little Movers Slip-on Diapers printable $1/1 Huggies Diapers, exp. 11/17/12 (SS 10/21/12) $2 off Huggies Baby Wipes AND Diapers @Target, exp. 10/31/12 (RP 09/16/12 R)?if considered a competitor $1/1 Huggies Little Movers or Little Snugglers Diapers or Overnites, exp. 11/17/12 (SS 10/21/12) As low as $16.99$1/1 Huggies Baby Wipes, exp. 12/31/12 (ALL YOU Oct '12) $2 off Huggies Baby Wipes AND Diapers @Target, exp. 10/31/12 (RP 09/16/12 R)?if considered a competitor $0.75/1 Huggies Baby Wipes, exp. 11/30/12 (Set Them Up For Success) $0.35/1 Huggies Baby Wipes, exp. 11/17/12 (SS 10/21/12) As low as $4.99
$1/1 Prilosec OTC Product, exp. 10/31/12 (P&G 09/30/12) $3/1 Prilosec OTC or Align, exp. 1/26/13 (Target, A Daily Dose of Cha Ching)?if considered a competitor As low as $20.99
$1/1 Tilex or Formula 409, exp. 11/9/12 (Publix, Get More From Your Essentials Booklet) As low as $1.00
$0.70/4 Scott Naturals Bath Tissue printable $1/12 Scott Rolls Extra Soft Bath Tissue (SS 10/21/12 R) $1 off Scott Extra Soft Bath Tissue, exp. 11/30/12 (Set Them Up For Success) $1/1 Scott Bath Tissue, exp. 1/15/13 (Discover the Value of a Great Buy Booklet) As low as $6.49
$1/1 Tide Detergent, exp. 10/31/12 (P&G 09/30/12) $0.50/1 Tide Detergent, exp. 10/31/12 (SS 09/09/12) As low as $10.99
$0.45/1 Gwaltney Bologna Item, exp. 11/11/12 (SS 09/30/12 R) As low as $.55 of if your store doubles, then $.10!
Happy Shopping Everyone!
Thank you passionate penny pincher for sharing your list with us!
How to help your relationship stand the test of time
Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman have separated after 30 years of marriage. Why does it feel so sad? Maybe because, in a reality-TV world, we are so used to seeing relationships go the way of Kim Kardashian. Here?s how to put aside the sad news of spotlighted break-ups and focus on staying with your own leading man for 50 years (or more).
Stay Alive: This may sound like a smart-aleck answer, but it is true. Take a good look at yourself and realize that you?re not that strapping 20-something anymore and you have to take care of your health in order to make it to 50 years of marriage. Joe Hewitt, a retired pastor, mediator and married man of 50 years? was blunt when asked how to make it to celebrate that many wedding anniversaries.
?To make it to the 50th wedding anniversary, first of all, the couple has to stay alive.? Make the choice and decision to be healthy for you, your partner and your family.
Take Time to Talk: Life is busy for everyone at every stage of life, but it is vital to your marriage to take? a time out each day and reconnect with your spouse. Christina Steinorth is a licensed psychotherapist and author in Santa Barbara, California and believes 30 minutes is all it takes to stay connected.
?With all the interruptions couples have between jobs, kids and smart phones, it?s very easy to lose touch with each other over the years, only to find out five or ten years down the line that you have very little in common anymore.?
If you can?t find a solid half-hour, Steinorth suggests breaking into 15-minute sessions. In-depth talks that will involve some Kleenex aren?t necessary ? just some simple conversation. ?Talk about your day, make plans for the weekend or even talk about current events,? she advises ? all to build and maintain a strong bond.
Related:?How to Date Your Husband
Check-Ups: Everything we own needs maintenance: our cars, our teeth, even our technology need to be charged and updated. So why wouldn?t we do the same for a marriage? Dr. Carletta Perry, a psychology professor, therapist and relationship and life coach, tells couples not to be afraid of attending counseling, a workshop or a fun couples retreat.
?Check ups can provide you with a third-party perspective on issues you ?talk? about well into the wee hours of the morning,?? she says. These exercises will help you learn what?s normal for relationships, teach you new things about how to be a stronger couple or just learn how to have more fun together. Most of all, participating in a check-up can also reassure you that you?re not alone, Dr. Perry says. ?Everyone has problems?even that perfect couple you compare yourself to.?
Know When to Speak and Know When to be Silent: Certified dating and relationship coach Yvonne Chase says the key to her parents? marriage was being adept at responding with words and with silence. Chase?s mother told her, ?You don?t have to respond to everything you see in your marriage. Stop picking the little things. So what if he didn?t cover the toothpaste? It?s not worth it. Know when to speak and when to be silent.?
Chase also provides a bit of self-reflection with a hint of Gandhi:? Be the change we wish to see.
?Change you. Don?t waste your time trying to change your spouse. It?s an exercise in futility. Work on the person in the mirror and that will bring the changes you want to see in your marriage.?
Related: 4 Tips for Staying in Love With Your Spouse
Fight! We?ve heard it before, so why hasn?t it stuck yet? Hapy couples need air ? and resolve ? their grievances.
?Couples who don?t fight at all are actually more likely to divorce that couples who do fight, but do it productively,? Soos points out.
Happy couples have figured out how to hash out their problems in a manner that is respectful and gets problems solved. To do this, you need to know the ?rules of fight club.? They include starting conversations with a soft-start-don?t go into a discussion with swords already drawn. It?s also wise to know when to take a break if you get emotionally overloaded. A half-hour can make a huge difference when things get heated, so step away and return when you?ve taken a breath. And lastly, don?t be too extreme on either end when an argument starts. Soos warns that couples enter gridlock when one or both people either refuse to talk or want to fight about everything at that moment.
Finally, one of the best pieces of advice came from Jack Quinn, married 52 years, who simply says, ?Don?t sweat the small stuff and don?t do anything that you would be ashamed to tell your children or your wife.??
There can be no denying that a web site is the most essential component for marketing any business today.
Yet, according to a report issued by the University of Maryland and Network Solutions, almost half of small US business still lack this essential marketing vehicle.
For those small businesses that have made the commitment and invested in developing a modern web site, hopefully they?ve done it under one domain. And if they?ve incorporated a blog, optimized the site for search and have integrated all of their related social channels, the reality is that these organizations have only gotten to first base.
Why? Because when it comes to achieving a truly successful online presence, their web site now must now continually deliver both perceived and monetary value to the business through the process of content marketing.
What?s Content Marketing?
Content marketing?is a way of engaging and attracting existing and potential customers through content creation and online distribution. In short order, this rapidly emerging discipline is defining which businesses will succeed with online marketing and how they?ll do it.
As I?ve come to introduce this new idea to senior management and decision makers in different kinds of businesses, the reaction has been interesting. I offer this summary to those who question where online marketing is headed and why every business must now become a publisher of content that will provide utilitarian value to customers and prospects
1. Denial.
After the effort, expense, and resources required to actually develop and deploy a new web site, many small businesses are challenged to accept the idea that this was not a one time event. Because it almost always takes more time and money than they planned for, few are willing to step up for round two of a consultant?s invoices shortly after a site launch.
But guess what? Things have changed. The train left. And it?s no longer 1999. Content Marketing is the new fuel that will drive visitors to your site, engage them when they arrive and keep them coming back. So how much attention will this new kind of online marketing take?
For old schooler?s longing for a more simple time, consider the ways of traditional advertising. Way back then, agencies forever tried to get clients to invest in ?ad spend? for the long term to generate awareness and develop recall and recognition for a brand. The result was usually that a brand ?tried? it for a quarter, allocated the media budget with great resistance, watched the response and/or leads and falsely declared, it (advertising, marketing or brand building) didn?t work.
The good news for these folks is that the media budget may no longer be required. The bad news is that the campaign flight for content marketing is now a ?forever? event.
2. Discomfort.
Does a forever engagement or expenditures for continual investment align with your expectation? If not, get over it because it?s now the reality of marketing online today. And if you choose to deny this simple fact, then flee as fast as you can because your new site or online marketing will just turn into another ?failed? initiative that was ?tried?.
The classic business to business ad created for McGraw-Hill in 1958 provides an appropriate reflection for today?s dramatically changed marketing environment. The ad message identifies the need for a brand to do much more than just present their product or service alone. It highlights the compelling need to create a positive perception and define the value that will be delivered before a business can attempt to make a sale.
Over 50 years later, the essential concept of laying a door mat before a sales person arrives by creating awareness and trust through informative, relevant and engaging content that adresses a target?s pain still makes a lot of sense. Maybe even more so today.
If anything, it?s become even more difficult and complicated in today?s highly competitive environment. So the old methods that you may have comfort in may actually be doing more damage than help with your marketing. The difference between the old school marketing and today?s world of content marketing is that, you can fulfill the complete role of a traditional business-to-business publication. That is, you can deliver both the editorial and the advertising components on your website.
3. Delay.
For those who can?t step up, the familiar decision of no decision at all can be costly. Why? Because the longer you wait to get engaged in content marketing the more advantage you give to your competitor who will be meeting this new business requirement.
For Content Marketing is the essential fuel that drives successful search engine optimization, inbound lead generation and social media marketing. And because prospects and customers have become more advanced and demanding, it?s now up to brands to quench their expectations with relevant, entertaining and useful content.
So why should your business do this as soon as possible?
46% of daily Internet searches are user initiated for research on products or services
75% of web users never go further than page 1 of the search results
Site visitors are 3-5X less likely to click on the paid links returned in search results
The more pages you have, the better chance of getting found and ranking high in search results
B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that don?t
Companies that blog (just by doing it) have 97% more inbound links than those that don?t
Creating great content is the key to getting inbound links and there?s just no substitute for this effort
Delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable content to prospects and customers drives action and ultimately revenue
What?s more, recent research on B2B content marketing by CMI underscores the fact that professional services?and many other business types?have the highest adoption rate for content marketing. Bottom line, this is not going away any time soon.
4. DIY.
If your site has integrated a blog and someone has shown you how to add content to it, this content marketing thing is something that you can probably do ad hoc on your own. Right?
Wrong. Success in anything requires a process, a plan and metrics to evaluate your performance along the way. So if you think you have the time and resources to define and document your target customer personas, document your selling cycle, create a structured and detailed content calendar, and engage a consistent and recurring process for creating all of the disparate content that will be required to succeed, have at it.
You?ll quickly learn that content marketing is anything but free or easy. And those that embark on this effort should have lots of energy, comfort with disparate technologies, persistence, and real budget resources before they begin. Adding the publisher title?and all of the addition requirements and responsibilities of this role?is not something that employees in an organization are going to willingly accept. Unless you would like them to stop doing the jobs that they currently have.
5. Dismiss.
Doing nothing is always an option. Pretending that there is not an imperative to meet this new business requirement with your head in the sand submits your and your company to imminent danger.
This inherent risks of this strategy include:
Having your domain of expertise be adopted, promoted and potentially owned by competitors
Allowing your competitors to revise and improve their online presence while your static site languishes
Putting your nascent search ranking (if you have them) at risk of decline
Sacrificing your tech platform and site technologies to become outdated, incompatible or worse, inoperable
Virtually guaranteeing your perceived and monetary value will not increase
Recap.
As people make more personal choices about the messages that they receive and how they want to receive them, it makes sense to engage your customers and prospects in an ongoing conversation about their needs, interests and passions and how you can help them with their unique challenge. An aspirational goal should be to have your customers and prospects turn to you as the trusted resource to help guide them to making better decisions.
Simply by the fact that you are actively showing interest in listening and creating an opportunity for people to provide their individual insights, feelings and attitudes demonstrates a meaningful commitment to continually improve your relationship with your prospects and customers.
It?s time to take a longer view and forget the old days of a campaign burst or a 3 month flight. Consider a 12 month implementation plan and start modestly. You can scale as budget and resources allow. But most of all, have realistic expectations.
If it?s not obvious, there are no silver bullets in marketing anymore. Quality and consistency of effort matter more than ever because everything you do online becomes a reflection of your brand and how you?re perceived. So get in the pool, experiment, review, refine and repeat.
Your turn.
Has your organization begun to address how they are going to meet the new requirement of content marketing??Shout out and share your experience.
Motorola Solutions is showing off today a gee-whiz mobile computer that you can attach to your head and operate with voice commands.
The HC1 headset computer looks bulky and cumbersome now, but it?s just a demonstration of what can come.The headset is one more example of ?wearable computing? that is starting to become more functional and practical as the cost of computing falls.
You could think of it as a Windows-based variation on a theme that is similar in concept to Google Glass. Aimed at the enterprise, the HC1 is the first in a new class of Motorola Solutions hands-free enterprise computers that use voice recognition, head gestures, and video streaming.
A firefighter could use it to identify toxic chemicals or building blueprints during a fire. It?s best for use in harsh environments and remote locations, where pulling out a laptop isn?t practical. Paul Steinberg (pictured above), chief technology officer at Motorola Solutions, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the computer could be used in fields such as defense, utilities, telecommunications, aerospace and aviation markets.
I used the computer on my head (pictured right) and issued voice commands, saying words to drill down on menus and retrieve information. You can use it to play videos, view pictures, or access records. A field technician repairing a car could use it to access repair manuals. That, in turn, could improve inspections, reduce labor rates, increase safety and make for better repairs. Looking through the display is like viewing a 15-inch laptop screen.
The headset can connect via WiFi, Bluetooth, or mobile hot spot. You can use it to make voice calls and use navigation data.
The headset pictured is a demonstration unit and isn?t the final version. It was built in collaboration with Kopin, which makes optical micro-displays, for customer and partner trials. Andrew Cook, senior vice president at Areva, said, ?In the highly demanding and regulated nuclear energy industry, innovation is essential in meeting ever-increasing standards for safety and operational performance for our utility customers. With the Entervise Remote Expert application running on Motorola?s HC1 headset computer, we can perform independent quality oversight at nuclear power plants without requiring a second person to enter restricted areas.?
Motorola Solutions is an independent communications infrastructure company, not the phone maker Motorola Mobility, which is now owned by Google. Motorola Solutions is publicly traded. The Motorola Solutions device competes with Google?s own wearable computing project, Google Glass.
Octopus Carpaccio
Coe at the Chef?s counter
Pear & Mascarpone Sacchetti, stuffed with pear and Mascarpone, topped with a cream sauce, arugula, pickled red onion, and lemon
Grilled Oysters topped with fennel pollen, tomatoes, panko bread crumbs, pancetta, and chive fondue
Tomato Heirloom Soup-Cambell style, tomato, garlic, onions, basil and finished with parmesan foam
Lobster Cavatelli ? Lobster meat, shitake mushrooms, edamame, and finished with a chive cream sauce
Decon Rabbit ? Bacon wrapped rabbit with stewed butter bean
Sous Vide Veal Cheeks with Tarragon Pappardelle and Parsnip puree
Blueberry & Prosecco Shooter, Strawberry & White Balsamic Jelly, Petite Tiramisu, Chocolate Cyclone
Pop Rocks ? Frozen Lemon Souffl? with pop rocks
Stay Alive: This may sound like a smart-aleck answer, but it is true. Take a good look at yourself and realize that you?re not that strapping 20-something anymore and you have to take care of your health in order to make it to 50 years of marriage. Joe Hewitt, a retired pastor, mediator and married man of 50 years? was blunt when asked how to make it to celebrate that many wedding anniversaries.
The HC1 headset computer looks bulky and cumbersome now, but it?s just a demonstration of what can come.The headset is one more example of ?wearable computing? that is starting to become more functional and practical as the cost of computing falls.