How To Build Your Business And Your Blog. Joanna Penn ...

I?m an author of fiction and non-fiction, but I also have a business, The Creative Penn Limited.

I?m a professional (paid) speaker and I also sell courses and consulting, as well as writing books. I don?t often talk about the business side but today I am sharing an interview with me, recorded with Julie Hall from Women Unlimited, a fantastic women?s network in the UK. There are notes below the video if you?d rather read, or an audio version you can listen to.

Julie and I are also joint venture partners and we?re about to launch a new multimedia course, Turn Your Ideas Into Cash, which teaches people how to create and sell multimedia products for their business in order to become global, scalable and reach more people.

You can sign up here for a series of free videos and a webinar, launching 5 November, after which the course will be open for 1 week only. (Even if you don?t want the course, you might still like the freebies, so sign up here.)

There?s also an overview post here: From Author to Entrepreneur: How to turn your knowledge into multimedia products (guest post for TheBookDesigner.com)

Download the audio => JoannaPennInterviewed.mp3

In the video we discuss:

• Freedom is my core value, and how I wanted to be location-independent so online business was the way to go to enable this.

• The importance of passion to sustain starting a business, and how I worked for 3 years with little reward to get the business started before going full-time in Sept 2011. It?s a slow build, and not a get-rich-quick scheme. But the first $10 you make online from someone you don?t know is amazing, then it?s just scalable from there. If I can sell $10, I can sell $1000 or $100,000

• On creating a strong following: It is a slow build, consistency over time. I?ve got over 700 blog posts, 140 podcasts, 140+ videos and I use social media every day. Focusing on the niche. Honesty and sharing my personal journey.

• Authenticity within a brand. Social karma and positive attitude. Choose what you share strategically. Decide what you want to portray to the world and decide on your boundaries.

• Launching The Creative Penn ? it wasn?t really like that! One day I started a blog and nobody came ? it was howling into the wind! It took at least a year before I had some decent traffic. My first product was a mega-membership course, the Author 2.0 Program ? it was too big and unmanageable, plus I didn?t have the audience back then. I now give away the Author 2.0 Blueprint for free, and sell modular courses for people in different situations.

• How I built an audience online. I paid for knowledge on how to blog, so I made sure the blog was SEO optimized and I also learned about headlines. I mention Yaro Starak?s Entrepreneur?s Journey and Copyblogger as sources. I still get most traffic from Google Organic Search because I SEO everything. I started using Twitter and podcasting to network with peers and my traffic grew through relationships. How everything is a slow build and step-by-step process but that?s how the biggest blogs on the internet got started, those with 6 figure businesses online these days. You have to start somewhere.

• My own business goals. I measure income and I?m definitely not where I want to be financially as yet. I want to grow my profile as a speaker. My blog is one of the Top 10 blogs for writers, but I still want it to grow. I want to write more books and become a brand name fiction author.

• Networking. It?s about being useful. I talk about Thrillerfest 2012 and also how I use my podcast interviews to promote other people. Always have an approach of ?how can I help you?. Helping people who are ?bigger? than you helps as well.

• On being an introvert. Introverts get energy from being alone and extroverts get energy from being with people. Shy is a different scale. I am not shy but I am an introvert so I have to psych myself up for physical events. I love speaking but it kills my energy and I have to have alone time.

• Reaching out to other bloggers. I network mainly on twitter and promote other people?s posts and this often leads to a skype call or a podcast interview. In Australia there was a physical network for top bloggers, which I?d love to create in the UK as well.

• Time management and productivity. You have to think about the % split you want for your business. When you write, people don?t see the work behind it. I diarize days for business and days for fiction when I work in the London Library, so I schedule everything. I have to ?change heads? like that.

• Work life balance isn?t important if you?re doing what you love! I?m passionate about what I do, it?s my hobby as well as my income, so yes, I am a workaholic and I love it! I?m also building a business so I expect to work hard at this point. I?m at the bottom of the ladder as a fiction writer, but I am happy living like this!

You can join Julie and I for ?Turn Your Ideas Into Cash? by signing up here for the free pre-launch video series and webinar.

I also do 1:1 consulting for authors and small businesses who need more personalized help.

Did you find this useful? Or can you share lessons from how you got started? Please share in the comments below.

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Tagged as: blogging, entrepreneur, speaking, twitter

Source: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/10/30/build-your-business-and-blog/

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Disarray, millions without power in Sandy's wake

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? The most devastating storm in decades to hit the country's most densely populated region upended man and nature as it rolled back the clock on 21st-century lives, cutting off modern communication and leaving millions without power Tuesday as thousands who fled their water-menaced homes wondered when ? if ? life would return to normal.

A weakening Sandy, the hurricane turned fearsome superstorm, killed at least 50 people, many hit by falling trees, and still wasn't finished. It inched inland across Pennsylvania, ready to bank toward western New York to dump more of its water and likely cause more havoc Tuesday night.? Behind it: a dazed, inundated New York City, a waterlogged Atlantic Coast and a moonscape of disarray and debris ? from unmoored shore-town boardwalks to submerged mass-transit systems to delicate presidential politics.

"Nature," said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, assessing the damage to his city, "is an awful lot more powerful than we are."

More than 8.2 million households were without power in 17 states as far west as Michigan. Nearly 2 million of those were in New York, where large swaths of lower Manhattan lost electricity and entire streets ended up underwater ? as did seven subway tunnels between Manhattan and Brooklyn at one point, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

The New York Stock Exchange was closed for a second day from weather, the first time that has happened since a blizzard in 1888. The shutdown of mass transit crippled a city where more than 8.3 million bus, subway and local rail trips are taken each day, and 800,000 vehicles cross bridges run by the transit agency.

Consolidated Edison said electricity in and around New York could take a week to restore.

"Everybody knew it was coming. Unfortunately, it was everything they said it was," said Sal Novello, a construction executive who rode out the storm with his wife, Lori, in the Long Island town of Lindenhurst, and ended up with 7 feet of water in the basement.

The scope of the storm's damage wasn't known yet. Though early predictions of river flooding in Sandy's inland path were petering out,?colder temperatures made snow the main product of Sandy's slow march from the sea. Parts of the West Virginia mountains were blanketed with 2 feet of snow by Tuesday afternoon, and drifts 4 feet deep were reported at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border.

With Election Day a week away, the storm also threatened to affect the presidential campaign. Federal disaster response, always a dicey political issue, has become even thornier since government mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And poll access and voter turnout, both of which hinge upon how people are impacted by the storm, could help shift the outcome in an extremely close race.

As organized civilization came roaring back Tuesday in the form of emergency response, recharged cellphones and the reassurance of daylight, harrowing stories and pastiches emerged from Maryland north to Rhode Island in the hours after Sandy's howling winds and tidal surges shoved water over seaside barriers, into low-lying streets and up from coastal storm drains.

Images from around the storm-affected areas depicted scenes reminiscent of big-budget disaster movies. In Atlantic City, N.J., a gaping hole remained where once a stretch of boardwalk sat by the sea. In Queens, N.Y., rubble from a fire that destroyed as many as 100 houses in an evacuated beachfront neighborhood jutted into the air at ugly angles against a gray sky. In heavily flooded Hoboken, N.J., across the Hudson River from Manhattan, dozens of yellow cabs sat parked in rows, submerged in murky water to their windshields. At the ground zero construction site in lower Manhattan, seawater rushed into a gaping hole under harsh floodlights.

One of the most dramatic tales came from lower Manhattan, where a failed backup generator forced New York University's Langone Medical Center to relocate more than 200 patients, including 20 babies from neonatal intensive care. Dozens of ambulances lined up in the rainy night and the tiny patients were gingerly moved out, some attached to battery-powered respirators as gusts of wind blew their blankets.

In Moonachie, N.J., 10 miles north of Manhattan, water rose to 5 feet within 45 minutes and trapped residents who thought the worst of the storm had passed. Mobile-home park resident Juan Allen said water overflowed a 2-foot wall along a nearby creek, filling the area with 2 to 3 feet of water within 15 minutes. "I saw trees not just knocked down but ripped right out of the ground," he said. "I watched a tree crush a guy's house like a wet sponge."

In a measure of its massive size, waves on southern Lake Michigan rose to a record-tying 20.3 feet. High winds spinning off Sandy's edges clobbered the Cleveland area early Tuesday, uprooting trees, closing schools and flooding major roads along Lake Erie.

Most along the East Coast, though, grappled with an experience like Bertha Weismann of Bridgeport, Conn.? frightening, inconvenient and financially problematic but, overall, endurable. Her garage was flooded and she lost power, but she was grateful. "I feel like we are blessed," she said. "It could have been worse."

The presidential candidates' campaign maneuverings Tuesday revealed the delicacy of the need to look presidential in a crisis without appearing to capitalize on a disaster. President Barack Obama canceled a third straight day of campaigning, scratching events scheduled for Wednesday in swing-state Ohio, in Sandy's path. Republican Mitt Romney resumed his campaign with plans for an Ohio rally billed as a "storm relief event."

And the weather posed challenges a week out for how to get everyone out to vote. On the hard-hit New Jersey coastline, a county elections chief said some polling places on barrier islands will be unusable and have to be moved.

"This is the biggest challenge we've ever had," said George R. Gilmore, chairman of the Ocean County Board of Elections.

By Tuesday afternoon, there were still only hints of the economic impact of the storm.

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicted the storm will end up causing about $20 billion in damages and $10 billion to $30 billion in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15 billion ? big numbers probably offset by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to longer-term growth.

"The biggest problem is not the first few days but the coming months," said Alan Rubin, an expert in nature disaster recovery.

Airports were shut across the East Coast and far beyond as tens of thousands of travelers found they couldn't get where they were going. John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark International Airport in New Jersey will reopen at 7 a.m. Wednesday with limited service, but LaGuardia Airport will stay closed, officials said.

Sandy began in the Atlantic and knocked around the Caribbean ? killing nearly 70 people ? and strengthened into a hurricane as it chugged across the southeastern coast of the United States. By Tuesday night it had ebbed in strength but was joining up with another, more wintry storm ? an expected confluence of weather systems that earned it nicknames like "superstorm" and, on Halloween eve, "Frankenstorm."

It became, pretty much everyone agreed Tuesday, the weather event of a lifetime ? and one shared vigorously on social media by people in Sandy's path who took eye-popping photographs as the storm blew through, then shared them with the world by the blue light of their smartphones.

On Twitter, Facebook and the photo-sharing service Instagram, people tried to connect, reassure relatives and make sense of what was happening ? and, in many cases, work to authenticate reports of destruction and storm surges. They posted and passed around images and real-time updates at a dizzying rate, wishing each other well and gaping, virtually, at scenes of calamity moments after they unfolded. Among the top terms on Facebook through the night and well into Tuesday, according to the social network: "we are OK," ''made it" and "fine."

By Tuesday evening, the remnants of Sandy were about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, pushing westward with winds of 45 mph. It was expected to turn toward New York State and Canada during the night.

Although weakening as it goes, the storm will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding, said Daniel Brown of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Atlantic City's fabled Boardwalk, the first in the nation, lost several blocks when Sandy came through, though the majority of it remained intact even as other Jersey Shore boardwalks were dismantled. What damage could be seen on the coastline Tuesday was, in some locations, staggering ? "unthinkable," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said of what unfolded along the Jersey Shore, where houses were swept from their foundations and amusement park rides were washed into the ocean. "Beyond anything I thought I would ever see."

Resident Carol Mason returned to her bayfront home to carpets that squished as she stepped on them. She made her final mortgage payment just last week. Facing a mandatory evacuation order, she had tried to ride out the storm at first but then saw the waters rising outside her bathroom window and quickly reconsidered.

"I looked at the bay and saw the fury in it," she said. "I knew it was time to go."

___

Contributing to this report were Katie Zezima in Atlantic City, N.J.; Alicia Caldwell and Martin Crutsinger in Washington; Colleen Long, Jennifer Peltz, Tom Hays, Larry Neumeister, Ralph Russo and Scott Mayerowitz in New York; Meghan Barr in Mastic Beach, N.Y.; Christopher S. Rugaber in Arlington, Va.; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa.: John Christoffersen in Bridgeport, Conn.; Vicki Smith in Elkins, W.Va.; David Porter in Newark, N.J.; Joe Mandak in Pittsburgh; and Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn.

___

Follow Ted Anthony on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anthonyted

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/disarray-millions-without-power-sandys-wake-215942473.html

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Google's Voter Information Tool hopes to make Election Day a little easier

It's election season and Google is doing its part to help you "rock the vote." No, the search kingpin isn't endorsing a specific candidate, instead it's doing what it does best -- help people search the internet for information. The company's open source Voter Information Tool is designed to help people research candidates and locate polling places. In an effort to reach the masses, Google is partnering with companies such as Foursquare and AT&T. Election Day can be a chaotic event to say the least. Hopefully this powerful new web-based tool will make things run a little smoother for frantic voters trying to beat the clock.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Google

Google's Voter Information Tool hopes to make Election Day a little easier originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/google-voter-information-tool-makes-election-day-easier/

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Whom You Know: Digital Health and Fitness Technology Expands ...

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)? today announced the nearly 25 percent growth of digital health and fitness technology at the 2013 International CES?. More than 215 exhibitors will showcase the latest digital health and fitness technologies at the world?s largest annual innovation event. The 2013 International CES will run Tuesday, January 8-Friday, January 11, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

?Health and fitness technology is booming, and will continue its dominance on the CES show floor with the future of fitness tech that combines data aggregation, social elements and convenience,? said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. ?Health, wellness and technology converge at the International CES where there are solutions for diagnosing, monitoring and treating illnesses with games that let people take responsibility for their own health and reinforce healthy behavior.?

More than 215 exhibitors will showcase devices beyond weight, body mass index (BMI), exercise and calorie tracking. The next generation of health and fitness devices and apps offer access to complete medical history, comprehensive biometric data and remote access to medical professionals. The companies displaying these technologies will be showcased in the FitnessTech and Digital Health Summit TechZones and conference tracks, plus Silvers Summit.

Over the next five years, wearable devices in sports and fitness will grow to 169.5 million devices, with the body becoming an input/output device where everything can be tracked, and more than 27,000 net square feet of exhibit space will be dedicated to those technologies at the 2013 CES. The FitnessTech TechZone is the premier 2013 CES show floor destination focused exclusively on the newest innovations and tools for the sports enthusiast. Spotlighting key trends that impact the multi-billion dollar sports, fitness and outdoors markets, FitnessTech will be located in the Las Vegas Convention Center/World Trade Center (LVCC), South Hall 2.

The FitnessTech Conference Track?will explore what works and what doesn?t from augmented reality devices to new exercise options, and from bionic parts to peak performance monitors. The conference programming dives into what it takes to become the next big thing in wearable technology.

An easier path to your doctor will be revealed in the LVCC?s Grand Lobby at CES. New exhibitor HealthSpot will unveil its cutting-edge tele-health system for providing high quality medical diagnostics to acute care patients. Redefining clinical healthcare through digital technology, HealthSpot is pioneering today?s health services through convenience, efficiency and efficacy for both providers and their patients. Other key health and fitness exhibitors include: Body Media, Life Technologies, Omron Healthcare, Scosche Industries and United Health Group.

The Digital Health Summit, produced by Living in Digital Times, is focused on one of the fastest growing markets where health, wellness and technology come together. The TechZone, located in South Hall 2, will showcase tele-health systems, robotic aids, electronic medical records, therapeutic and diagnostic medical devices and monitoring devices for the home. The conference programming will bring together more than 800 senior health and technology executives to examine and analyze the fast-paced digital health landscape. Innovators in the technology health services industry will examine consumers? seamless integration with health and fitness products in their daily lives. Now in its fourth year, the Digital Health Summit with showcase the following speakers:

• Jeff Arnold, CEO, Sharecare
• Paul Slavin, SVP and General Manager, Everyday Health Studios
• Dr. Joseph Kvedar, Founder and Director, Center for Connected Health
• Ron Andrews, President Life Sciences, Life Technologies
• Dr. Gregory Bayer, CEO, Brain Resource

More, the Silvers Summit TechZone in South Hall 2 will showcase the products and services that keep baby boomers engaged, entertained, connected and healthy.

The 2013 CES will feature 3,000 global technology companies unveiling the latest consumer technology products and services across 15 product categories including the latest in audio, automotive electronics, connected home technologies, digital imaging/photography, electronic gaming, entertainment/content and more. Visit CESweb.org for more information on the 2013 International CES.

About CEA:

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $206 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships.?CEA also owns and produces the International CES ? The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA?s industry services.?Find CEA online at?www.CE.org?and?ww.DeclareInnovation.com. Follow CES atwww.CESweb.org

Source: http://www.whomyouknow.com/2012/10/digital-health-and-fitness-technology.html

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Sandy's death toll climbs; millions without power

NEW YORK (AP) ? Millions of people from Maine to the Carolinas waited wearily for the power to come back on Tuesday, and New Yorkers found themselves all but cut off from the modern world as the U.S. death toll from Superstorm Sandy climbed to 40, many of the victims killed by falling trees.

The extent of the damage in New Jersey, where the storm roared ashore Monday night with hurricane-force winds of 80 mph, began coming into focus: homes knocked off their foundations, boardwalks wrecked and amusement pier rides cast into the sea.

"We are in the midst of urban search and rescue. Our teams are moving as fast as they can," Gov. Chris Christie said. "The devastation on the Jersey Shore is some of the worst we've ever seen. The cost of the storm is incalculable at this point."

As the storm steamed inland, still delivering punishing wind and rain, more than 8.2 million people across the East were without power. Airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights around the world, and it could be days before the mess is untangled and passengers can get where they're going.

The storm also disrupted the presidential campaign with just a week to go before Election Day.

President Barack Obama canceled a third straight day of campaigning, scratching events scheduled for Wednesday in swing state Ohio. Republican Mitt Romney resumed his campaign, but with plans to turn a political rally in Ohio into a "storm relief event."

Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the U.S., according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.

Lower Manhattan, which includes Wall Street, was among the hardest-hit areas after the storm sent a nearly 14-foot surge of seawater, a record, coursing over its seawalls and highways.

Water cascaded into the gaping, unfinished construction pit at the World Trade Center, and the New York Stock Exchange was closed for a second day, the first time that has happened because of weather since the Blizzard of 1888. The NYSE said it will reopen on Wednesday.

A huge fire destroyed as many as 100 houses in a flooded beachfront neighborhood in Queens on Tuesday, forcing firefighters to undertake daring rescues. Three people were injured.

New York University's Tisch Hospital evacuated 200 patients after its backup generator failed. About 20 babies from the neonatal intensive care unit were carried down staircases and were given battery-powered respirators.

A construction crane that collapsed in the high winds on Monday still dangled precariously 74 floors above the streets of midtown Manhattan, and hundreds of people were evacuated as a precaution. And on Staten Island, a tanker ship wound up beached on the shore.

Some bridges into New York reopened, but some tunnels were closed, as were schools, Broadway theaters and the metropolitan area's three main airports, LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark.

With water standing in two major commuter tunnels and seven subway tunnels under the East River, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was unclear when the nation's largest transit system would be rolling again. It shut down Sunday night ahead of the storm.

Joseph Lhota, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the damage was the worst in the 108-year history of the New York subway.

Similarly, Consolidated Edison said it could take at least a week to restore electricity to the last of the nearly 800,000 customers in and around New York City who lost power.

Millions of more fortunate New Yorkers surveyed the damage as dawn broke, their city brought to an extraordinary standstill.

"Oh, Jesus. Oh, no," Faye Schwartz said she looked over her neighborhood in Brooklyn, where cars were scattered like leaves.

Reggie Thomas, a maintenance supervisor at a prison near the overflowing Hudson River, emerged from an overnight shift, a toothbrush in his front pocket, to find his Honda with its windows down and a foot of water inside. The windows automatically go down when the car is submerged to free drivers.

"It's totaled," Thomas said with a shrug. "You would have needed a boat last night."

Around midday, Sandy was about 120 miles east of Pittsburgh, pushing westward with winds of 45 mph, and was expected to make a turn into New York State on Tuesday night. Although weakening as it goes, the storm will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding, said Daniel Brown of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

In a measure of the storm's immense size and power, waves on southern Lake Michigan rose to a record-tying 20.3 feet. High winds spinning off Sandy's edges clobbered the Cleveland area early Tuesday, uprooting trees, cutting power to hundreds of thousands, closing schools and flooding major roads along Lake Erie.

In Portland, Maine, gusts topping 60 mph scared away several cruise ships and prompted officials to close the port.

Sandy also brought blizzard conditions to parts of West Virginia and neighboring Appalachian states, with more than 2 feet of snow expected in some places. A snowstorm in western Maryland caused a pileup of tractor-trailers that blocked part of Interstate 68 on slippery Big Savage Mountain.

"It's like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs up here," said Bill Wiltson, a Maryland State Police dispatcher.

The death toll climbed rapidly, and included 17 victims in New York State ? 10 of them in New York City ? along with five each in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Sandy also killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Eastern Seaboard.

In New Jersey, Sandy cut off barrier islands and wrecked boardwalks up and down the coast, tearing away a section of Atlantic City's world-famous promenade. Atlantic City's 12 waterfront casinos came through largely unscathed.

Jersey City was closed to cars because traffic lights were out, and Hoboken, just over the Hudson River from Manhattan, was hit with major flooding.

A huge swell of water swept over the small New Jersey town of Moonachie, near the Hackensack River, and authorities struggled to rescue about 800 people, some living in a trailer park. And in neighboring Little Ferry, water suddenly started gushing out of storm drains overnight, submerging a road under 4 feet of water and swamping houses.

Police and fire officials used boats and trucks to reach the stranded.

"I looked out and the next thing you know, the water just came up through the grates. It came up so quickly you couldn't do anything about it. If you wanted to move your car to higher ground you didn't have enough time," said Little Ferry resident Leo Quigley, who with his wife was taken to higher ground by boat.

___

Hays reported from New York and Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C.; AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington. Associated Press writers David Dishneau in Delaware City, Del., Katie Zezima in Atlantic City, Emery P. Dalesio in Elizabeth City, N.C., and Erika Niedowski in Cranston, R.I., also contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandys-death-toll-climbs-millions-without-power-155442547--finance.html

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European fashion buyers look to Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? A model struts the runway wearing a flowing newspaper print gown in this African megacity where international high-end fashion buyers are looking beyond the country's bleak headlines to uncover the next new thing.

There have been steady efforts to turn Lagos, a city with a fearsome reputation, into a fashion destination. They reached new heights at the MTN Lagos Fashion & Design Week that ran from Oct. 24 to 27 and drew European high-fashion brands such as the United Kingdom's Selfridges & Co. and Munich-based MyTheresa.com to Nigeria for the first time.

Ituen Basi's newspaper inspired Spring/Summer 2013 collection was among 39 collections spotlighted at the city's latest major fashion week. The Nigerian label's collection evoked fun and glamour through its use of print and color ? characteristics which have come to define the vibrant local fashion scene.

With local brands seeking wider platforms and international retailers hungry for novelty, designers and buyers see opportunities for collaboration.

"There's something about the fresh, the unknown, the possibility of seeing a new brand springing forth into the limelight. ... These are becoming interesting to people outside Nigeria," said Omoyemi Akerele, the fashion week's founder and creative director.

An encouraging response to African-inspired designs by top Western labels gives buyers confidence that designs straight from the continent will also sell.

"Over the past few seasons, there's been a strong trend for print," said Bruno Barba, the brand public relations manager at Selfridges. "If you look at the collection of Burberry inspired by Africa last year; there was also Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith. ... They've made that inspiration quite mainstream now. So, for us, it was interesting to take that trend and take it from its roots in Africa."

Online retailer MyTheresa.com, which ships top designers' clothes including Miu Miu, Givenchy, Lanvin and Isabel Meron to clients in 120 different countries, is also looking for products in Nigeria that will sell well. The company hopes that will set it apart from the competition in a fast-paced industry.

"For me, Nigeria represents a fun individualism," the company's buying director Justin O'Shea said. He also said that MyTheresa.com was looking to work closely with designers and adapt products for their clientele if needed.

Previously, several Nigerian designers have helped put the West African nation on the global fashion map.

Deola Sagoe has gained recognition from U.S. Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley and Oprah Winfrey. London-based Duro Olowu is considered one of Michelle Obama's favorite designers. Maki Oh has dressed American singer Solange Knowles and Hollywood actress Leelee Sobieski from her Lagos workshop. Jewel By Lisa, who has also dressed celebrities, designed limited edition BlackBerry mobile phone skins and jeweled cases for Canadian manufacturer Research In Motion Ltd.

While looking to Nigeria could bring much-needed novelty to clothes targeted to global audiences, it could also endear a Nigerian clientele. Though the majority of the nation lives on less than $2 a day, the nation's wealthy elite have a growing appetite for top-shelf brands. Luxury goods stores are increasingly opening in a country where seemingly gratuitous displays of wealth are the norm.

"Nigerians are part of our Top 10 highest-spending foreign customers," Barba said. "It felt right for us to try and find a response that would appeal to them, excite them and be over and above what they already buy, almost as a recognition that they're an important part of our consumer base."

____

JEWEL BY LISA

Fashion week after fashion week, Lisa Folawiyo, the creative director of Jewel By Lisa, is a consistent Nigerian designer. She recently started retailing at the New York-based online luxury store Moda Operandi and continues to draw attention from international buyers and labels looking for a modern interpretation of African style.

Her Spring/Summer 2013 collection is named "Fula" after the Fulani women it draws inspiration from. The Fulani are a nomadic people spread across several African countries, including Nigeria.

Their women typically have fine traits and slender frames, not unlike the models that took to the catwalk with soundtrack that crossed the high-pitched melody of the African guitar and the heavy bass of house music.

The Jewel by Lisa collection turned traditional loop earrings into a motif that repeated itself throughout her satin fabrics across stunning color combinations.

ANITA QUANSAH LONDON

Anita Quansah London is a prolific one-woman operation based in a London workshop. The Ghanaian-Nigerian designer describes her work as a "labor of love." She sells to a global market including Asians and Europeans. She says she is now in talks to build a diffusion line to meet up with the growing demand of her work that has caught the eye of such designers as Christian Delacroix.

Her Spring/Summer 2013 collection is dramatic for "ladies who want to make a statement when they walk in to a room."

Her show-stopping bib necklaces are embellished with intricate bead work. The beads include imitation coral beads used for traditional outfits in southern Nigeria. Some bibs are lined with chicken feathers which also evoke traditional heirlooms.

Her dresses were understated and mostly in solid black, ceding the limelight to the jewelry that included suggestive chain designs inspired by bondage. Quansah said she wanted to show "women that weren't afraid to be sexy."

LANRE DASILVA AJAYI

Designer Lanre DaSilva Ajayi is well-known in Nigeria's fashion scene for her love of 40s elegance. International buyers such as Selfridges & Co. expressed interest in her designs for retail at their UK stores.

Her ultra-feminine collection used a color palette ranging from cool nude and turquoise to warm orange and gold.

She showed flowing silhouettes and easy-to-wear maxi dresses, using chiffon, raw silk lace and the lace used in traditional Nigerian outfits to carve European shapes.

Her clothes are for the woman on the move, bold and sophisticated.

JOSH SAMUELS

The MTN Lagos Fashion and Design Week 2013 was also the culmination of a months-long competition for new talent. The competition winner was menswear designer Josh Samuels, an architect turned designer that offered a geometric collection.

"I like things organized and appropriate," said Samuels who won the equivalent of $25,000 and the opportunity to be stocked in some Nigerian boutiques.

His collection called "Casanova" included finely tailored suits with classic checkered and houndstooth patterns and matching string ties.

___

Online:

Lagos Fashion & Design Week: www.lagosfashionanddesignweek.com

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Aperitivo time ? The Italian version of happy hour :: by Margarett ...

By Margarett Waterbury

October 29, 2012

If I could import just one thing from Italy, it wouldn?t be a Dolce & Gabbana wardrobe or an Alfa Romeo sportscar or even a whole leg of Parma ham. In fact, I wouldn?t pick an object at all. Rather, I?d bring over the institution of aperitivo.

In Italy, the term ?aperitivo? ? ap?ritif in French, cocktail in English ? signals much more than ?happy hour.? While Italian liquors and previously obscure amari are starting to receive a lot of attention in the craft-cocktail renaissance, their context remains a bit of a mystery here. As wonderful as a bracing shot of Fernet Branca or a well-made Americano taste on their own, simply bellying up to the bar elides half of the picture ? the food half.

Aperitivo is the wonderful marriage of the two, the effusive cocktail party that happens every day at bars across Italy during those relaxed, possibility-filled hours between work and dinner. Rather than offering discounted drinks, Italian bars raise their prices between 6 and 9 p.m., sometimes quite a lot. The purchase of a ?10 Negroni, however, entitles you to pick up a flimsy plastic plate and head over to the buffet as many times as you like, sampling the bar?s selection of appetizers, generally known as stuzzichini (?toothpicks?) but, in Venice, as cicheti.

Bruschetta is an easy thing to serve for aperitivo.

The edible display can be stunning. Tiny squares of pizza, bruschetta, cooked greens, salumi, vegetable salads, marinated white beans, pasta, grissini, cheeses, polpette, grilled meats on skewers ? the variety and breadth of some bars? aperitivo offerings is truly incredible.

So is the scene. Businessmen in improbably impeccable suits shoulder in next to dreadlocked bikers, still improbably impeccable (this is Italy, after all), to grab one more scoop of that agrodolce cabbage with anchovies or snag a few more bruschette. Tiny women in achingly high stilettos tuck in to plates buckling under the weight of all that linguini. Ice-cold Moretti flows freely.

The aperitivo ritual, I think, perfectly illuminates the difference between American and Italian attitudes toward eating and drinking. In Italy, food and alcohol are so firmly linked that ordering an alcoholic drink at any time of day elicits at the very least a small bowl of supplemental peanuts, if not a platter of focaccia and prosciutto. Drinking without at least a small snack is practically unheard of, unless you?re having a digestivo after you?ve already eaten.

At aperitivo, the emphasis is placed even more strongly on food; it?s difficult, and expensive, to overdrink. Rather than leaving happy hour with a lightheaded buzz and an empty stomach, Italians are much more likely to leave wondering if they?ll have any appetite for dinner.

The American attitude toward happy hour ? as a time to knock back a few as quickly as possible, before that looming 6 p.m. cutoff ? contrasts starkly with the more relaxed Italian approach. While cultural norms regarding alcohol are changing, especially among young people, ?going out? just to drink is quite unusual in Italy, and public drunkenness is both uncommon and firmly frowned upon.

This is not to say that there isn?t a robust drinking culture. After all, Italy is practically synonymous with wine, and produces a vast range of spirits as well. The bitter flavors of many Italian liquors are considered to be appetite enhancers and digestive aids. Low-alcohol cocktails, such as Campari and soda or Aperol with Prosecco, are very popular at aperitivo, both because they enhance the food they?re consumed with and because they?re not strong enough to dull the senses and distract from the main event: eating.

You can easily imitate the Italian aperitivo experience at home. Aperitivo is all about simplicity and ease, and it?s a terrific model for a party, especially a summer one: refreshing, low-proof drinks and uncomplicated snacks. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Keep it simple

When I have people over to dine, my immediate impulse is to embark on an elaborate three-day cooking spree that dirties every dish in the house and requires an Excel spreadsheet to manage the shopping list. This is not what aperitivo is about. Aperitivo is for socializing, looking fabulous, and enjoying the late afternoon.

This applies equally to the drinks and the food. Campari and soda, a glass of chilled vermouth, even a well-made Negroni ? these are not fussy drinks. All it takes to make a classic Negroni, after all, is one part Campari, one part gin, and one part sweet vermouth gently stirred in a glass full of ice and topped with a twist or wedge of orange.

If you feel like turning on your range, keep it simple: toast some bruschetta in the oven and slather a variety of savories on top, or make a simple pasta dish on the stovetop, such as gemelli with pesto or rigatoni with raw chopped tomato. Throw in a veggie or two, maybe some cheese, and you?re set. Even just a plate of sliced and salted tomatoes with basil, braised chicory, or gratin?ed onions with breadcrumbs can make aperitivo special without making it exhausting.

Strive for variety

Many aperitivi offer a stunning array of choices, some with four separate buffet banquets themed around different ingredients. For those of us without staff and professional kitchens, this is out of reach. Variety at home might mean pizza made with three different toppings, or a charcuterie board with two different kinds of salumi and two different kinds of cheese. Even a small variety of tastes, textures, and types of food will go a long way: if nothing else, get the five different kinds of bulk olives you?ve been eyeballing at the grocery store and a jar of artichoke hearts.

Make it easy for everyone

One of the best parts about aperitivo is that it?s a serve-yourself affair. Throw some ice in a bucket for the drinks, have a stack of small plates and napkins next to the food, and let guests serve themselves. Disposable plastic plates are traditional at the bar, but plastic makes me feel guilty, so I use small, expendable ceramic plates from Goodwill that I won?t miss if they hit the patio.

Invite a crowd

Aperitivo is for everyone, from the very old to the highchair set. In Italy, whole extended families go to aperitivo together. It?s an inexpensive meal out, plus the variety means that everybody can find something they like to eat.

While the food is a big focus at aperitivo, socializing is just as important. It?s easy to forget in the face of all that culinary abundance, but Italy has a history of political upheaval, war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and oppression that stretches back thousands of years. Food hasn?t always been something taken for granted on the peninsula, and social connections have been (and frankly still are) the most reliable source of support in most Italians? lives. These ties need to be nurtured. Plus, gathering al tavolo with the people you care about is what makes life worth living, plain and simple.

Take it outside

When the weather permits, Italian restaurants spill out onto sidewalks, piazzas, and alleyways ? sometimes even expanding all the way across streets, making it hard to tell which table belongs to which restaurant. Nobody wants to eat inside if they can help it. Buon appetito!

Margarett Waterbury is an Oregon-based writer, editor, and employee at Gathering Together Farm.

Related recipe: Bruschetta with Zucchini, Anchovies, and Mint; recipe: Bruschetta with Bresaola, Arugula, and Ricotta; recipe: Basic Bruschetta; recipe: Braised Chicory; recipe: Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Olives

Source: http://www.culinate.com/articles/features/long_live_aperitivo

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OpEdNews - Article: the Bloodless Revolution: Core Values for a ...

?(This article deals with systems that will be put in place if my idea for a bloodless revolution is accepted. See "An Exceptional America CAN have a Bloodless Revolution" in OpEd News.)

??Bloodless. Many have asked about this interesting term--what does it really mean? Labeling this revolution "bloodless" is both a description and a promise. We do not want anyone hurt, nor do we want to hurt anyone. We have traditional, legal weapons, but would not, at this point, want or intend to use them. Virtually all protesters active today have been trained in passive resistance. They are heroic in their determination not to lower themselves to the mentality of riot cops who seem to be salivating for a chance to crack coconuts on protestors. Yet, even when tortured with pepper spray, kicked and punched, or slammed around (even women, kids, and elderly!) they find the strength inside to remain passive. This makes it evident to all watching that police violence is pure brutality, is unnecessary, and is undeserved. It is a crime for police to quench their thirst for violence on passive protestors. Of course, these protestors are not the only victims of police brutality... so are other citizens, regularly (see the news in any city). But, as discussed before, many cops will need monitoring and treatment to understand and rehabilitate this post 9/11 behavior.?

??So, will the revolution be bloodless? Quite probably not. Some cops will panic, make mistakes.

Some will never agree to avoid bloodshed. Some even want it. A slightly different opponent may be the corporate security groups, which, if they go against us, will be very hard to recruit. We just have to hope they will have the clarity to see that these are good people in front of them, families. Somehow I believe it won't be the corporate security that goes against citizens though. This is because the 'bosses' at the top have made the 'elite mistake', of regularly cheating them on paychecks, reducing or eliminating benefits, dangling insulting carrots, and, because they are awkward and self-interested in normal social situations, they have insulted or betrayed many employees right to their faces! It is a curious blindness the 'entitled' have--they KNOW they can see you, but they THINK that you have no hearing, eyesight, or memory (until they tell you to). I am sure when the private security agents get the idea about what's really been going on, and how they were manipulated in ways that harmed them and their families, most of them will gladly join us, and use their skills to protect us. So, that is what is intended by the use of the term 'bloodless'. It indicates the actual realistic possibility of having a revolution without violence. Of course, we cannot speak for others, who may become our 'opposition', and try to impede us. Other than police and private security, who would be acting UNDER ORDERS, let's see who might choose of their own accord to go against a revolution that would improve their lives.

??It would be easy to assume that the main opposing group would be the Republican party. This is because they have a solid reputation for fearing change, fighting equal rights & opportunity, and voting against pro-environmental legislation and activities, all of which are to be core values of New America.

The Republicans also tend to be anti-science, less educated, more religious, and more adoring of money for the sake of hoarding (not as a tool to get resources). New America will make a serious, transparent, and thorough examination of what is now known and taught as science, and a full investigation and evaluation of ALL of the experimentation (and actual results) of programs, even the secret programs used for decades by the military, CIA, FBI, and even the FDA and AMA. We must discover and evaluate ALL of this, before we can responsibly choose to continue or discard any of it. Science will be an important part of most systems, as it is our means of assuring we are doing no unintended harm.

?Education, by which I mean encouraging thought and objectivity, creativity, and teaching facts (not white-washed, male only histories, for example) and using real events or participation whenever possible, will also be a core value, offered everywhere and including many new subjects. Learning every day will become the norm. Wisdom will be highly regarded, as it is only in other countries, now. Today there is a strange belief that wisdom comes with age, as a kind of consolation prize for losing one's beauty and physical ability. And in America now it is attributed more often to white males than any other group. It is not seen as dependent, even, on any personal dedication to continuing education or experience. So we wind up in a country where the richest old white guy is assumed to be correct in every proclamation. (Also why Obama's presidency has flown in the face of American racism!) ?

??About religion... There will be NO religious faction to our new, streamlined government, or the citizen owned businesses. Holidays will either be rededicated (to keep the date) or celebrated in private groups (to keep the rite). No national holidays may be based on religious folklore. Also, no holidays will be recognized that are based on lies. These include Columbus day and Thanksgiving. We need no longer look like idiots to the rest of the world by celebrating genocide, murder, rape, and theft on a massive scale. But religion can have a place in New America, as long as it is honest. Many folks, even without the money men at the pulpit, will feel better being able to express and share their faith with like-minded others. Many others, upon seeing the flight of those trusted leaders (whose religiosity was anchored to the high profits taken from individuals in the form of tithing, donation, and free labor), will become disillusioned and not want any part of it. We must meet the needs of both types of individuals. However, any religion or religious practice must be kept from any business, educational, or governmental system. It must not involve the exchanging of money, or the abuse, isolation, or manipulation of members, ever. These changes alone may actually dismantle the entire basis of some of today's known sects. Individual religious groups may not present unproven claims as fact, but must be clear that these are beliefs based on varied interpretations of poorly documented times.

A religion cannot include behaviors that are illegal in the mainstream, nor may it enjoy special privileges or rights. Any violation can cause the restriction of the practice of that sect, or sanctions to those involved, or both, since it is already shown to cause or justify the worst kinds of corruption and abuse. The inclusion of religion in society will be seen as in a 'trial period', to see if it is even possible to keep such a historically problematic

system in New America.

??Equal rights & equality, in general, will also be a core value. Each individual person (on earth) will be seen to be worthy of respect, security, health, education, and voice (by this I mean personal expression, in its many forms), and should expect, automatically, to be treated in a fair, respectful manner by ALL others. Even those in prison must be treated with the same basic rights (other than the ability to freely move around, and associate with others publicly) and this will improve the prison system more than any other time or place in history. It is sadly overdue, and many good, and even innocent, people have lingered unto death behind bars, alone, and misunderstood, which is a travesty. We can stop this, and we must. ?

??So, your individual self, which for some is your body and mind, and for people like myself is a body and a spiritual essense (which I firmly believe has it's own weight and mass, but has not yet been scientifically measured, to my knowledge), which is also described by terms such as 'soul', 'spirit', or 'psychic energy'. Or as my friends will confirm, I say that I am a "soul in a meat suit", where the meat suit is disposable but the soul comes in near birth and goes on without it, at physical, recordable death. Whatever your own description, the essence and biological materials of which you are composed, is neither worth more or less than that of any other person. Equally true, there is to be no heirarchy between humans (although some should get extra consideration, like children and babies, due to inability to take care of their own basic needs), nor shall we maintain a sense of superiority over any other animals. We are the only species clumsy, ignorant, and egotistical enough to have threatened the existence of ALL other species! A new attitude and behavior toward the environment will reflect our reverence for nature (who alone sustains us), and we will no longer do her harm in ignorance or greed.

Source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/the-Bloodless-Revolution--by-Kim-Cassidy-121022-252.html

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Mirror of Justice: Walter Russell Mead on Nature and Nature's God

? Physician-Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts | Main | Gedicks on religious freedom and the HHS mandate ?

October 30, 2012

Walter Russell Mead on Nature and Nature's God

As those of us in the East clean up from Hurricane Sandy and try to bring things back to normal, Walter Russell Mead reflects in a lovely essay here on the fragility of life before nature's power. A short excerpt:

Strangely, that admission of weakness opens the door to a new kind of strength. To acknowledge and accept weakness is to ground our lives more firmly in truth, and it turns out that to be grounded in reality is to become more able and more alive. Denial is hard work; those who try to stifle their awareness of the limits of human life and ambition in the busy rounds of daily life never reach their full potential.

To open your eyes to the fragility of life and to our dependence on that which is infinitely greater than ourselves is to enter more deeply into life. To come to terms with the radical insecurity in which we all live is to find a different and more reliable kind of security. The joys and occupations of ordinary life aren?t all there is to existence, but neither are the great and all-destroying storms. There is a calm beyond the storm, and the same force that sends these storms into our lives offers a peace and security that no storm can destroy. As another one of the psalms puts it, ?Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.? Accepting your limits and your dependence on things you can?t control is the first step on the road toward finding that joy.

Posted by Michael Moreland on October 30, 2012 at 11:04 AM in Moreland, Michael | Permalink

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Dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga. | 7 Steps to Finding Your Perfect Dentist

Looking For A Dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?

Trying to find the best dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.? ?There is no doubt an abundance of options for a family when it comes to finding a dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga. ?However, you?d be surprised (or maybe not?) at just how many families find it worth the drive from Hawkinsville, Ga. to go see Dr. Frazier at Rochelle Family Dentistry.

Stop paying the high prices from other dentist in?Hawkinsville, Ga and do what so many other families and patients are doing from Hawkinsville, Ga?.?make the trip from Hawkinsville, Ga. down to Rochelle and experience high quality family dental care with small town pricing.

Give Dr. Frazier a call @ 229-365-0065 or visit us online at?Dr. Frazier at Rochelle Family Dentistry.

Dr. Kris Frazier from Rochelle Family Dentistry. Call Now: (229) 365-0056

Call Dr. Frazier at Rochelle Family Dentisty:

Main Phone: 229-365-0065

Follow Dr. Frazier:

Google+ | Google Places | Website | Facebook | Google+ Page

You need to find a new dentist. Your old one wasn?t working out or you just moved to town. Whatever your reasons, you?ve decided that this time you really want to invest the time and find the right dentist for you and your family.

Below you will find a step by step guide on how to find the best dentist in the area, especially if you are looking for a dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga..

#1: ?Check to see if your dentist insurance recommends anyone

If you have dental insurance, you can save a lot of money by selecting a dentist that works with your insurance carrier. The easiest way to check this is to contact your dental insurance company and ask them what dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?area are covered under your insurance. They should be able to provide you with a list of dentists that you can choose from in your area. Some dental insurance companies allow you to use any dentist. However, this may require you to pay for the services upfront, and then be reimbursed directly from the insurance company.

#2: ?Ask your friends and family for dentist references

One of the best ways to find the right dentist in for you is to ask your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors to recommend a dentist for you. If you trust the opinion of the person you ask, then this could be a great reference for you. ?You can also check online for different references for dentists. Many people use the internet to tell other about their good or bad experiences with different dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?area. This may give you a good overall picture of what the dentist?s patients think about his services.

#3: ?Check the Dentist?s (and his staff?s) credentials

When deciding which dentist is right for you, it is important to make sure that the dentist you are considering has the right education and experience. You definitely want to choose a dentist who has either a DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine) or a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) degree. It is also a good idea to choose a dentist who is a member of the American Dental Association. This association makes sure that each of its members has the right dental credentials, and also required continuing education classes. You also want to choose a dentist who has several years of experience in providing dental care to patients in your specific area.

There are two specific areas that you really want to check up on your dentist?credentials:

Dentist?Education

First off, you?ll need to make sure that the dentist is educated and certified. Check into the school where the dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?obtained his degree. Was the school reputable or accredited? Did he belong to a particular honor society? You don?t want your dentist to have gone to a fly by night school or a dentist who just barely passed school.

Dentist?Professional Organizations

The next step in choosing a dentist is to look at his current affiliations. Is the dentist involved in any dentistry associations? Has he or she held a position in that organization? The dentist?s involvement in professional associations like the American Dental Association can tell you if they know the best practices and current innovations.

#4: ?Look into your dentists??track record

Find out what kind of experience your dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?has had. How long have they been practicing? Are they part of a long, standing, well-known practice if they are new? Do they have specialties? Check to see if they or any previous practices that they worked at have had complaints filed against them. Ask around town. If no one has heard of them, that may be a red flag. Or even worse, someone you know may have received bad service. Of course, sometimes one person may have had a bad experience, while everyone else has had a good one.

#5: ?Find out what services your dentist offers

Not all dentists have the exact same goods and services. When you choose a dentist in the area, call the dentist or go to their website to see the services offered. Make sure that the services offered will fit your current and projected future needs. It can be expensive if you have to go to a specialty office later on. Make sure that they offer comprehensive exams. A good quality dentist will do more than just have an oral hygienist clean your teeth, especially on the first visit. Do they take x-rays? Do they check your whole mouth or just the teeth? Do they offer counseling or financial programs? It?s significant to consider whether or not the dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?provides information on all aspects of oral hygiene.

#6: ?Make an appointment with your dentist

After you have gone through all of the previous steps, you should call and make an appointment. There are several reason why you should make an appointment even before you have decided upon your final dentist. First, you can tell a lot about the dentist?s office by how their staff treats you on the phone. Are they polite? Do they get you in quickly? Secondly, you really can?t make a judgment call about the dentist until you have seen them in person. Visiting the office can send some red flags that you hadn?t previously seen.

Your visit shouldn?t be for anything serious. They should just give you a consultation first. Be wary of any dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?that suggests immediate, extreme dental work and discourages a second opinion.

#7: ?Give the dentist a post visit evaluation

Was the office clean? Was the staff polite? Did the dentist offer you advice that you were uncomfortable with? Were they up to date on all the latest practices? Were all of their instruments in good repair? DO they work with your insurance?

When you go for your visit, take your check list of important items with you. As you talk with the dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga., mark down things that they have or don?t. This will make your post visit evaluation easier.

Looking For A Dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.?

Trying to find the best <em><strong>dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga.</strong></em>? ?There is no doubt an abundance of options for a family when it comes to finding a dentist in Hawkinsville, Ga. ?However, you?d be surprised (or maybe not?) at just how many families find it worth the drive from Hawkinsville, Ga. to go see Dr. Frazier at Rochelle Family Dentistry.

Stop paying the high prices from other dentist in?Hawkinsville, Ga and do what so many other families and patients are doing from Hawkinsville, Ga?.?make the trip from Hawkinsville, Ga. down to Rochelle and experience high quality family dental care with small town pricing.

Give Dr. Frazier a call @ 229-365-0065 or visit us online at?Dr. Frazier at Rochelle Family Dentistry.

Dentist News for Hawkinsville, Ga.

Rochelle Family Dentistry in Rochelle Ga

Rochelle Family Dentistry

Welcome to Rochelle Family Dentistry in Rochelle, Georgia. We provide the most comprehensive, high quality dental care in Rochelle and the surrounding Wilcox County areas.

From periodontal services to address gum disease, to restorative procedures to replace missing teeth, or if you need superior pediatric dental care for your young ones, Rochelle Family Dentistry should be your first choice!

Rochelle Family Dentistry
615 2nd Avenue
Rochelle, GA 31079
(229) 365-0056 ?

Customers absolutely love Rochelle Family Dentistry! Below are some of the cities we serve here at our location in Rochelle, Georgia:

Best dentist in Eastman, Ga., McRae, Ga., Pitts, Ga., Cordele,Ga., Pineview, Ga., Pinehurst, Ga., Douglas, Ga., Fitzgerald, Ga., Ocilla, Ga.,Tifton, Ga., Abbeville, Ga., Rochelle, Ga., Ashburn, Ga., Vienna, Ga., Unadilla, Ga., Warner Robins, Ga., Macon, Ga., Vidalia, Ga., Albany, Ga., Cochran, Ga., Ga., Hawkinsville, Ga., Hazelhurst, Ga., Americus, Ga., Pearson, Ga., Slyvester, Ga., Mt. Vernon, Ga., Lumber City, Ga.

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Source: http://bippermedia.com/2012/10/30/dentist-in-hawkinsville-ga/

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Sandy Speeds Up, Risk of Deadly Winds Increases Onshore

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Drake 'Follows Through' With High School Graduation Speech

'I realized that there aren't material things that can give me the excitement that I'm looking for,' Drizzy says during appearance at Toronto school.
By Rob Markman

Drake
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696408/drake-follows-through-with-high-school-graduation-speech.jhtml

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Communication: the overlooked component of effective risk ...

By Tracy Thames | October 30, 2012
Categories: Risk management

Is your internal audit plan working at cross purposes with your company strategy? Missed communication opportunities may make it appear that way. I was drawn to that observation in a PwC white paper, ?Aligning Internal Audit: Are you on the right floor?,? which suggests that the role of internal auditors is changing as stakeholders increasingly appreciate their risk management contributions.

Internal auditors add value to their companies by identifying risks as business strategies evolve. That value is diminished if they?re unaware of key decisions taken on the top floor. The objective of a program audit will change if, for example, the company is divesting itself of the program. Bottom line? Seeking strategy intel is vital to earning respect for internal auditors.

Communication style is the other key to helping execs view internal auditors as team players. When reporting results, consider the audience. That means headlining findings for top brass. All the gnarly details should be readily available for anyone who wants to wade through them, but spend your face time (or devote your report cover memo to) identifying the items of concern and your recommendations for dealing with them.

Internal auditors typically have access to all areas of their company. That perspective means that occasionally you?ll have good news to share?for example, efficiencies that can be implemented. The tone with which you communicate this information is just as important as the tone you take in delivering news about potential risks. Buy-in for your suggestions has a lot to do with the way they?re delivered.

Like tone, timing is crucial to maintaining trust with the rest of the company. If you want your audience to become defensive and view you as an adversary, just try springing all your concerns at the end of an audit. As a general rule, keeping business owners and execs informed as you find issues makes for a relationship of respect. No one wants to be blindsided by a problem with no corrective plan in sight.

Finally, weigh your communication options. You may have noticed, as I have, that voice inflections don?t register in digital formats, so sending an email may not always be the best choice. Sometimes picking up the phone or meeting face-to-face enhances communication, and improving the lines of communication within your company is a key step in identifying the risks it faces.

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Source: http://www.roseryan.com/blog/2012/10/communication-the-overlooked-component-of-effective-risk-management/

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Suzanne Braun Levine: Unfriending Is Hard To Do ... - Huffington Post

Like most women my age, as the years accumulate I get more and more selective about who I consider real friends, while at the same time, more and more committed to those who form my "circle of trust." The trouble is that paring down my inner circle can be hurtful, guilt-making, and very hard to initiate.

I practice the "drift" technique -- fewer calls and dates, slower responses to e-mails -- hoping that distance and silence will dissolve the tie.

This tactic has backfired more than once. The worst experience was when I saw an e-mail from the designated friend, opened it, and decided to "keep as new" rather than responding right away. I let a few days go by and to my surprise got another e-mail from the same person. It read: "I know you are there. You opened my last e-mail. Why didn't you reply!?!" Until then I had no idea that if two people were subscribers to AOL they could monitor the status of their correspondence. I could have said, "because I would like to downgrade our friendship," but of course I didn't -- and still haven't.

This is a particularly sensitive situation, because the party of the second part has really done nothing wrong. So even if I had said in a very loving way, "It's nothing you have done; we've just grown apart," she might well have replied, "I don't feel that way." And then what?

The word "unfriending" is one of the rare recent additions to the dictionary, thanks to Facebook, where the cutoff is brutal and final. In real life, though, you can't just click a friend away. You can have a heart-to-heart; you can have a disagreement and not make up; you can try a "white lie" like, "I've got to devote my time to my grandchildren/my school work/my job." How do you begin?

Breaking up with friends is not a comfortable topic of discussion among our usual advisors, for fear it would be distressing to the friend and disloyal to the prospective unfriend. Now that I am writing a book called "Why Your Girlfriends Are Good for Your Health" (especially after 50) I have an excuse to find out about how we keep, shed, and make new friends.

My research confirms the increasingly meaningful role our girlfriends play in the tumultuous new stage of life we are defining as we live it. The physiological rewards are just as vital. Female companionship -- and the laughter that always accompanies it -- releases hormones that reduce stress; that phenomenon may account for the fact that women are living longer than men. Research also suggests that as much as supportive and intimate friendships are nurturing and life-enhancing, toxic or simply tired friendships are a drain on our well-being. So unfriending is as important as a daily workout.

Recently the San Francisco chapter of The Transition Network -- a ten-year-old organization for women over 50 who want to meet like-minded women and support one another's efforts to move into a new stage of life -- announced Friendship as the topic of a monthly meeting. In preparation they sent out some "Discussion Questions," among them:

• "What are the signs of a toxic friendship?
• Is there a good way to end a friendship? Have you ever ended a friendship successfully?
• Have you ever been betrayed by a female friend? Disappointed? Have you ever been replaced by a "new" best friend?

I'm told the conversation was lively; I wish I had been there.

I hope we can start our own conversation in the comment section. We can help each other find answers to the question: What is the kindest way to disengage yourself from a friend whom you don't want to spend time with now that you are downsizing your life to the people, projects, and principles that truly matter to you going forward?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzanne-braun-levine/unfriending-is-hard-to-do_b_2017827.html

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Consumer Advocate Cautions That State Rules Will Impact Scope Of ...

As implementation of the Affordable Care Act moves forward, a group of patient advocates and health policy experts selected by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to represent consumer interests?released a report?in August that describes problems consumers might encounter under the law?s insurance reforms. The consumer representatives also suggested potential solutions.

Jost

As the report makes clear, the devil is in the details when it comes to implementation of the health care overhaul. The rules that are established will determine whether it is easy or hard for consumers to meet their obligation to have insurance, for example, or take advantage of the comprehensive benefits promised under the law. From recommending standardized enrollment periods to limiting the amount of leeway insurers have in determining benefits, the report suggests ways to remove obstacles and help ensure consumers benefit from the law.

Timothy Stoltzfus Jost is a law professor at Washington and Lee University who has written extensively about implementation of the law and is a co-author of the report. He talked with me about some of the ways consumers? interests could be shortchanged if insurance rules that are being developed for the implementation of the health law don?t provide specific protections.

Q. Why is this report necessary? Doesn't the law spell out what needs to happen?

A. The law is trying to deal with a huge health care system and a huge health insurance system and make some pretty big changes. In a lot of areas it lays out what's supposed to happen, but it doesn't lay out the details.

Some of those details have to be laid out by the federal government.?But a lot will be addressed by state insurance commissioners. Many of the issues we focused on in the report were insurance regulation issues and the role of the states.

Q. Were there any broad themes that the consumer representatives tried to address?

A. We were concerned about loopholes in the Affordable Care Act.

Limited-benefit plans are a concern, for example. These plans?which may only cover a limited number of services or pay just a few thousand dollars toward medical care?aren?t regulated under the ACA. And so you could see a migration toward companies offering those plans. We encourage states to regulate them.

An overriding concern was how to make this law work in real life. For example, we were thinking through how a ban on pre-existing conditions really works in practice. You can see that things might happen like insurers evading people who are sick by imposing waiting periods for specific benefits like chemotherapy or autism treatment, or limiting benefits in ways that might make them unattractive to consumers with serious health problems. The secretary of Health and Human Services has said it's permissible for insurers to limit the number of visits to certain providers, for example.

If it isn't squarely addressed, some insurer may say, "Well, it's not expressly prohibited..."

Q. A key part of the law is the requirement that health plans sold on the state-sponsored exchanges and on the individual or small group markets provide 10 types of medical services, called the essential health benefits. They include hospitalization, emergency services, and maternity and newborn care, among others. Describe how that protection could be weakened.

A. It's one thing to make sure that plans provide drugs, it's another to make sure that people can get the drugs they need. You have to say more than that you just have to cover prescription drugs. It's not enough to cover just one drug in a category or class?one anti-depressant or a narrow range of AIDS drugs, for example. People need more choice than that.

What made us most nervous is the idea of actuarial equivalence: that the insurer can swap out one kind of benefit for something else, as long as the value of the services overall is comparable. The Department of Health and Human Services has said insurers will have flexibility in how they design their benefits.

Potentially insurers could substitute benefits across benefit categories to discriminate against high-risk consumers.

For example, people with disabilities and chronic conditions rely on rehabilitative services and medical devices to a greater extent than those without such conditions. Insurers could significantly reduce coverage for those services while increasing it for services that are actuarially equivalent, such as preventive services, but that chronically ill consumers are less likely to use.

Q. Most employees, when they start a new job, currently face a waiting period before their health insurance coverage begins. The health care overhaul limits such waiting periods to 90 days starting in 2014. That seems like a long time.

A. If states want to go further than the federal standard, they can.?We recommended that states limit waiting periods to no more than 60 days.

Q. What about the individual mandate? If people go for two or three months without coverage, aren't they going to owe a penalty for not having health insurance?

A. The penalty for not having insurance only applies after 90 days. So the waiting period isn't a problem. But it could be a problem not having health insurance, however.

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Source: http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Features/Insuring-Your-Health/2012/Timothy-Stoltzfus-Jost-health-law-implementation-states-michelle-andrews-103012.aspx

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