The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the standard-bearer of newspaper and print publication circulation reporting, just reported a couple of weeks ago that newspaper circulation for the six months ending Sept. 30 dropped 10.6 percent from the same period in 2008, with a 7.5 percent dip on Sundays.

Conversely, as newspaper circulations take a nose dive, online readership of newspaper Web sites is on the rise. Newspaper Web sites attracted more than 74 million monthly unique visitors on average in the third quarter of 2009, more than one-third (38 percent) of all Internet users, according to a custom analysis provided by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association of America. The sites collectively tallied more than 3.5 billion page views during the quarter, with users spending 2.7 billion minutes browsing the sites over more than 596 million total sessions.

This is a 17 percent increase over the 62 million unique visitors the same sites drew in 2007. In fact, for the first time in history, the stats now show that more people are getting their daily news online, and not from their daily printed newspaper.

The irony is that while newspapers are bleeding money, they are actually building a healthier combined online and offline readership. More people overall are consuming the news than ever before. People keep hearing about the decline of newspaper readership, but that's a deceptive statistic, because newspaper Web sites are picking up more readers online than they are losing offline. It also underscores the power of print-based PR, because every time a print article is written about a company, a Web-based article is also born.

Having worked in the business for nearly 20 years, it's interesting how the attitudes about Web-based news coverage have changed over the course of time.

It used to be that if you got an online placement for a client, they would laugh it off as if the coverage was inconsequential. Today, it's very different. Recently, we had a client covered on The Huffington Post, which made the client incredibly happy. Soon after, she nearly went into orbit when she was asked to become a regular blogger for the news site. So, it's not just about the numbers. While 74 million is a good number of unique visitors, the news-based Web sites are growing in influence and prestige, as well. At the end of the day, print and Web combined means more eyeballs for your story.

Read this feature from past issues.

The Boy and His Snuggie

We have officially been caught by the infomercial propoganda. Joel has worn his blue Snuggie with matching included blue socks for the past week every day and at night and in the car. Basically, if he isn't in the shower or in public places, he is wearing the Snuggie. Backwards. Like a sidekick out of the Matrix movie that didn't get the wear-black memo.

I read in many articles that the Snuggie is the gift that no one wants this year. Joel did not read the article. He only saw the commercials. He received many toys and games and books and carefully chosen presents that he wanted at some time or another. In the midst of the presents, he honed in on the Snuggie. He has always been a little obsessed with infomercials. In particular, he is still very sad that we don't have Vonage phone service at our house.

There is something to be said (or not said) for the power of television. The fact that every retail outlet including the grocery stores now sell said Snuggies for adults, children, and even dogs makes it easier to purchase them. It also takes away the fear of the online purchase that starts out costing $19.99 and ends up being ten times that much with shipping and handling.

Emily also received her own version of the Snuggie but wasn't nearly as fascinated with the gift. The Bendaroos were the infomercial pitch that caught her ears. I thought they would be another one of the toys off of television that don't live up to the hype (like Moon Sand). Thanks to Walgreens, I got one box of Bendaroos for each child. Both kids have been very busy using the included templates and 500 Bendaroo wax-coated sticks to create mashed-up Bendaroo creations.

To me, the creations don't resemble anything that is on television. The sticks are now coated with fuzz and are difficult to separate by color. However, both kids play with them and narrate their artwork as if they are auditioning for the television commercials. The Snuggies are basically gigantic pieces of fleece that should be worn like backwards bathrobes. However, there is a magic in the descriptions and the pitches and the commercials showing dancing Bendaroos and families enrobed in matching Snuggies.

Joel and Emily see that magic in so many other things than television commercials. We stop frequently to look at various caterpillars and butterflies. We wonder why there are thousands of birds on telephone wires with all of their tails facing the same direction. They have sung at the top of their lungs to Christmas music for the past month. On Christmas Eve, they both sang in their respective costumes with angelic voices and faces that brought me to tears. Joel is infatuated with the magic mysteries of the Hardy Boys even though the books are seventy-five years old. Emily is in love with dolls and creating her own fashion designs in the same way I was 35 years ago.

While Joel may be running through the house with a backwards Snuggie on because he saw it on television, what matters to him is that I bought him the Snuggie and that he is warm in it and that it has so many different functions for him. While Emily may be creating her fashion designs with her Project Runway craft kit, she is still creating. They may have discovered Bendaroos and Snuggies and Project Runway on television but they make their own magic and joy.

In the new year, I resolve to find my own magic moments, my own creativity, and my own joyous times. I anticipate that most of those moments will involve a boy in a blue Snuggie and a girl bearing a flower made out of Bendaroos. Whoever wrote that either item was the worst gift this year couldn't have been more wrong.

Happy New Year!

Read this feature from past issues.

Lynn Andrews

Crossroads

We live at a time of great opportunity in the human experience. There are blessings and possibilities open to us today of which our ancestors could only dream.

At the same time, our societies have grown so complex and riddled with conflict that we are also living under more stress and chaos now than at any previous time in our history.

As I see it, the great flowering of human ingenuity, creativity and the development of the truly astonishing technology in which we are engaged today, along with the amazing abundance of our beautiful Mother Earth, have put all of possibility at our fingertips � including the possibility of creating technological and social catastrophes from which human beings, like much of life as we know it, might never recover.

Along with great accomplishment comes equally great responsibility, and it is the enormity of the responsibilities before us that is causing much of the chaos and confusion under which we are living. There is also tremendous uncertainty in our world, and while nothing in life is ever guaranteed, the kinds of uncertainty we have created in our lives are antithetical to a consciousness of our own well-being.

We are literally standing at a crossroads in human existence unlike anything we have ever faced before. The decisions we make and the directions we choose at this crossroads will affect the direction of life on earth perhaps forever, because of the technology we possess.

A crossroads is a place of enormous power. It is a place of power precisely because it is a place where choices must be made and acted upon. Thoughts are energy forms, and what we think creates energy. When we stand at a crossroads and evaluate our options, make our decisions, we begin generating energy. As we act to implement those decisions, we generate more energy. Energy is power, just as power is made up of energy. So when you stand at a crossroads, you have within your reach a tremendous amount of power and energy to carry you forward as you choose the path you are going to take, so long as you make a decision and move to act on it. Otherwise, you simply stop growing and moving in life. You become stagnant.

Think about this whenever you feel stuck. Are you at a crossroads in your life where changes need to be made? The need for change is what brings you to a crossroads in the first place. Once you are there, it is time to make and act upon some very important decisions for your life. While it is imperative to take the time to look at your options carefully and make your decisions wisely, the longer you put off facing and making important decisions, the more your energy is going to be drained. So use the energy that exists when you arrive at the crossroads to move yourself forward onto the pathway that best works for you.

The dynamics of energy are truly amazing, for energy creates energy in the never-ending spiral of life in this universe. The simple act of making decisions generates energy. Then you use that energy to begin acting on your decisions. As you do that, you create more energy. The more you get done, the more energy you create. That is why businesspeople like to say, "If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person."

There is a catch, however, in the way you generate and use energy. If you are coming into the crossroads as a victim, as one who expects everyone else to make and carry out your decisions for you, you are bringing into the crossroads only negative energy. Negative energy has the ability to create tremendous force in the universe, there is no doubt about that. It is the darkness that defines the light.

The possibilities that exist through negative energy, however, are very limited. They are limited by the sheer weight of negativity, which feeds only on other negativity. Using negative energy isn't going to get you out of a difficult place at all; it's only going to get you more deeply into it. Using the energy of negative thinking, which can make you feel very powerful and important for a moment, isn't going to get you anywhere near the center of the crossroads where the power and energy of all of creation exist. In fact, it's going to drain you of whatever positive energy you have left, for negative energy is completely devoid of the power of creativity.

Creativity is one of the most powerful forces of all. Creativity is the child of love. Love is of the Great Spirit, and it is the most powerful force in all of existence. Creative energy comes from the very life force, itself.

It is a great privilege to be born at this particular time in human history. The decisions that you make when you stand at the crossroads of your own life and the energies that you use to create and reflect out into the world as you move forward on your chosen pathway are going to have a huge impact on the entire world around you. That is because our very world, itself, is standing at a crossroads. It is a crossroads we all must face. We absolutely cannot allow anyone else to make these next major decisions for our world, any more than we will let anyone make our important decisions for us.

We are not victims; in fact, the psychology of victimhood, the mentality that says, "It's not my fault, so take care of me, regardless of the cost to others," is part of the old paradigm of negativity that has brought us to this crossroads amid so much havoc and destruction. We can choose to stay rooted in this victimization, and the results will not be pretty.

Or we can choose, individually, one by one until we number every person on earth, to say, "I am responsible. I am responsible for holding up my own dream for a better life, and I am responsible for holding up my own dream for a better world." It is when you take responsibility for your life that you really begin to move through the crossroads in very dynamic and exciting ways.

This is the vision that I have for our world, that we will move through this crossroads leaving the negativity and victimization of the old way behind us as we reach for all of the light, all of the creativity, all of beauty and joy and power that is the love of the Great Spirit. Reach for the very life force, itself, to guide you into a future of harmony and oneness with all of life. To me, there is no other way.

Read this feature from past issues.

Conquer Emotional Eating and Stop Wrecking Your Life

To conquer emotional eating is the secret to stop wrecking your life for every time you go to put on your clothes, the uncomfortable reminder of those excess pounds is there like a wrecking ball flying through space and hitting you square in the stomach. But what do you do when that ice cream sundae cries for consumption? And the little voice inside your head asks, "What's one more ice cream cone going to hurt? After all, you haven't had that much to eat today!"

Then there's that other little voice that mumbles, "You're not really serious about losing weight," and leaves a deposit of some guilt for future put downs.

The internal argument is totally about the ice cream cone and nothing about what's going on emotionally. And what's going on emotionally is totally what the ice cream is all about.

What might the emotional factor be? It could be any number of things and it's usually connected with events in one's life that works out the way we desire them to or not.

Yes, when the job gets done to your satisfaction or when you hear good news from home you're likely to feel happy and accomplished and notice an empty spot in your stomach crying for the satisfaction of a treat.

And yes, when your supervisor criticizes you for a job not so well done or you get bad news from home-the third time your son has been in the principle's office-you're likely to feel frustrated and unappreciated and also notice an empty spot in your stomach crying for the satisfaction of a treat.

Whichever happens the same result is realized in that the empty feeling gets all the attention and the feelings of happiness and or frustration gets ignored. Yet, it's dealing with the happiness and or frustration that are key to leaving food and the empty feeling in the stomach out of the mix. Instead food is used to dilute these feelings.

But, what do you do with happiness and the feeling of accomplishment? And what do you do with the feelings of frustration and being unappreciated? You sell them out for food and they are skimmed over like skimming a flat stone on a pond-they eventually sink disappear beneath the surface of the pond and join the hundreds or thousands of others stones already there building a mountain under the surface.

Tony Robbins in his Get the Edge Program suggests that there are up to ten different reasons for each emotion that you feel and he proposes a plan to analyze each of them to get at the bottom of them and how you handle them. However, this may be highly impractical because electrons travel in the brain at the speed of light and by the time you begin to analyze, the flat stone is half way across the pond.

First, it's important to recognize that we are emotional beings and rather than do something with emotions it's more important to ask yourself a simple question, "Can I let it be that something did or didn't work out as anticipated?" If you can let it be, you can let it be and there is no resultant emotion. However, often times before you can think to ask this question, the flat rock is already in hand and the emotion is there.

Instead of throwing that flat stone, the answer is to ask yourself, "Can I let it be that I feel (the emotion)?" Focus on the feeling-good or bad-with the knowledge that when you allow you to feel the feeling, it goes away. Celebrate the joy or happiness or learn from the frustration, for as Tony Robbins also says, "Frustration is a call to action."

Whichever it may be, feel it and the feeling/s disappear, the flat stone returned to the ground and food is forgotten.

When the emphasis is on food, all you get is guilt instead of an opportunity to celebrate joy or be called to action to handle a problem.

An effective approach to conquer emotional eating involves asking important questions "What is missing here? Why are you not getting the results you've been promised?" It is clearly insane to keep dieting when the results are so poor. It's more important to gain a grasp on how to stop emotional eating--eating emotional stress than it is to read the scale. Besides focusing on the scale doesn't empower you to be a better more enlightened person, whereas learning how to overcome emotional eating empowers you in all aspects of your life. If you're a sales person, you'll be a better sales person. If you're an assembly line worker, you'll be a better assembly line worker; a mother, a better mother... Overall, you'll build self worth and find that what you really want to eat is far more nutritious and less in quantity than you ever before imagined possible.

Visit Richard Kuhns B.S.Ch.E., NGH certified, this new year. He is a prominent figure in the field of hypnosis with his best selling hypnosis and stress management cds at http://www.DStressDoc.com and http://www.PanicBusters.com. His aim is to make it possible for anyone to manage emotional binge eating. For more information please visit www.dstressdoc.com/BingeEatingEbook.htm

Read this feature from past issues.

THIS MONTH:
Poetry Corner

A poetic conversation with poets, Robin Hiersche, Darcie Ziel, David Wiley, Dennis O'Donnell.

This month's topic:
Loose Connections

Darcie Ziel

	
	
Fragile Blue Eggshell Beginnings

I'm having a moment, he says
of beginnings
the urgency of life
the way you look tonight
we're at war again, and
I've become accustomed
to being alone again
I looked in the mirror last week
and thought 'I'm alone'
finally that felt ok
then on the plane home
I thought
of all those people
who never knew that morning
when they woke
when they ate breakfast
that they would be dead in hours
I felt this evening should be with you
I feel a draw, a pull
your lips, blue egg shells
our connection
you're so familiar
yet, we are still so easily broken.

Dennis O'Donnell

	

What is the significance of human life?
                                            
From the perspective of the whole universe,
if our sun exploded and vaporized our solar system
the effect on the Milky Way
would be negligible.
The effect on the universe 
would be nil.

From the perspective of this one planet,
we are a pestilence that one day
will die off.
So what perspective can one take
to arrive at enlightenment?
What is the perspective
of a flower or a frog?

Are we children of the galaxy,
or children of God?
How many galaxies are there?
Look at this tiny being
in the grass...
How many frogs like this one?
How many eyes to see
the beauty of this green world?

David Wiley

	
	
Four American Haikus

The sun opens a pine cone and
out tumbles the dark seed blinking.


On the mountain the snow grows thin
as the stream grows fat.


Ten thousand leaves fall
and I only have two eyes.


At the bottom of the pond
minnows hide from something
ninety-three million miles away.

Robin Hiersche

	
	continental divide
our geography
is completely unchanged 
by time,  distance,
intervening loves and energies,
reproduction, cloning, acquisitions
and losses...
the political map 
much the same,
instantly recognizable
with boundaries intact.

our topography 
is totally altered
and I am lost
in the uncharted
mountains,
and caverns,
and valleys
of you.

in some places,
the rivers
now run uphill
and the earth is
torn sideways
revealing what was 
hidden under stone.
the sea boils
and the salty steam rises
making a sharp and
haloed mirage on
our ancient map.

the delicate interactions
of flora and fauna and humankind
are undisturbed;
our ecology as always
unmeasurably intertwined.

I guard no borders,
and have no passport
but my body.


	Satisfaction
	
There is a great deal of satisfaction
In scratching an itch
There is also a great deal of satisfaction
In not scratching an itch.

If I decide to scratch, I have to answer:
   can I reach it?
   will it feel as good as I think it will
   or will it just start itching more and more?

If I don't scratch it,
   if I find it is the kind of itch
   I can't reach alone, 
   I would have to ask you for help.

I could pretend I don't have a body at all
And hence, no itches.
I could even make a religion of that
Or I could teach classes 
In which all references to itching and scratching
Are studied and discussed.
Or, I could go into the business 
Of designing, making, or selling scratchers.

As a matter of fact, by writing
this poem about itches
I have, at least for the moment,
Distracted myself from my own.

Read this feature from past issues.

"How much do you really know?"
from Danielle Joy Linhart

This past month I have done several radio interviews regarding my book about Domestic Violence and I am becoming more and more passionate about it wanting to STOP.� The biggest step is to SPEAK UP if you feel like something is wrong in your relationship and please speak to someone you trust and love if you feel as though something isn�t right.� I can�t express how important that is.� I have a list of guidelines below and details that I would like to include for everyone to read:

1. What are the key elements of domestic violence?

EMOTIONAL ABUSE

1)� Calls you names, insults you or continually criticizes you.

2)� Does not trust you and acts jealous or possessive.

3)� Tries to isolate you from family or friends.

4)� Monitors where you go, who you call and who you spend time with.

PHYSICAL ABUSE

1)� Damaged property when angry (thrown objects, punched walls, kicked doors, etc.).

2)� Pushed, slapped, bitten, kicked or choked you.

3)� Abandoned you in a dangerous or unfamiliar place.

4)� Used a weapon to threaten or hurt you.

2. Why does domestic violence happen?

1)� Abusers objectify women, unable to see them as people. They do not respect women as a group and instead, they view them as property or sexual objects.

2)� Abusers typically have low self-esteem and feel powerless and inadequate, despite their successes in life (e.g., academic, professional, economic, athletic).

3)� Abusers externalize the causes of their behavior, casting blame on outside circumstances (e.g.. stress, a bad day, his partner's behavior, chemical dependency, etc.)

4)� Abusers may be charming, outgoing, friendly between violent episodes. (See The Cycle of Abuse.)

5)� Abusers may be extremely jealous, possessive, ill-tempered, unpredictable, cruel to family pets, and verbally abusive.

3. Why does someone stay in an abusive relationship?

FINANCIAL

Sadly, a woman often earns less money than a man, or may not work because of her partner's objections. She knows if she leaves the relationship, she will have great difficulty supporting herself. Usually, her partner has reinforced these fears, telling her that he will not help support her, or that she can never find or keep a job. He may also threaten to make trouble for her on the job, if she is employed. This issue is compounded when there are children involved.

FEAR

Threats are used as an effective technique to keep someone in a relationship, which is the goal of the abuser. A woman may have been told over and over that if she leaves the relationship, terrible things will happen to her. He may have convinced her that no matter where she goes, he will find her and never leave her alone. She may also fear living alone and the prospect of trying to support herself and the children. Or he may have threatened to kill her, the children and himself. (Threatening suicide is quite common in relationships where the abuse is mostly emotional.)

LOVE

A woman usually wants her relationship to work and is willing to hang in there waiting and hoping things will improve. She may believe the promises and explanations her partner offers and may feel she can't simply give up on the relationship because of a "few problems."

CHILDREN

Whether she wants her children to have good relationships with their father, or she feels guilty "breaking up" the family, or because of his threats to keep her away from the children, many times a woman stays in an abusive relationship because of her children. Ironically, she will often leave because she realizes her children are being adversely affected by living in an abusive atmosphere.

NO PLACE TO GO

By the time she decides to leave, her abuser may have succeeded in isolating her from her family and friends. She may feel she has nowhere to go. She may be embarrassed to ask strangers for help and reluctant to go to a shelter, if there is one available.

4. What are the signs that I may be in an abusive �� relationship?

�� Question:� Am I in an Abusive Relationship?

1)� Embarrass you with put-downs?

2)� Look at you or act in ways that scare you?

3)� Control what you do, who you see or talk to or where you go?

4)� Stop you from seeing your friends or family members?

5)� Take your money or Social Security check, make you ask for money or refuse to give you money?

6)� Make all of the decisions?

5. I�m worried about someone I know, What can I do?

�� Don�t be afraid to let him or her know that you are concerned for their safety. Help your friend or family member recognize the abuse. Tell him or her you see what is going on and that you want to help. Help them recognize that what is happening is not �normal� and that they deserve a healthy, non-violent relationship.

��

6. Does witnessing domestic violence effect our children?

�� Domestic violence affects every member of the family, including the children. Family violence creates a home environment where children live in constant fear.� Children who witness family violence are affected in ways similar to children who are physically abused.. They are often unable to establish nurturing bonds with either parent Children are at greater risk for abuse and neglect if they live in a violent home.

�� Each year an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to violence against their mothers or female caretakers by family members. (American Psychological Association, Violence and the Family: Report of the APA Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family,1996)

7. What are the police required to do?

�� In most circumstances involving domestic violence, an officer will make an arrest when he/she has probable cause to believe a crime has occurred. Under many circumstances, an officer may be mandated to make an arrest. There are a number of laws, both misdemeanor and felony, that address domestic violence. The officers on scene will assess the circumstances and take action based on the applicable laws. Please understand the officers must act based upon legal and departmental guidelines, and cannot make discretionary decisions in these cases.��

�� WE HAVE REAL ISSUES EVERYDAY WITH ABUSED TEENS, ABUSED WOMEN AND ABUSED MEN.� THIS MUST STOP.� THE KEY IS TO RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM FIRST AND TO BE STRONG ONCE IT IS RECOGNIZED.� STAYING STRONG AT HEART AND BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF WILL GIVE YOU SUCCESS IN GETTING OUT OF A TOXIC ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP.� GRAP ON TO AS MUCH SUPPORT AS YOU CAN� THE KEY WITH THAT MAKE SURE YOU CAN TRUST THEM AND THEY IN NO RELATION TO YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER.

�� IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO WRITE ME� A POEM�. ANY KIND OF WRITING TO GET OFF OF YOUR CHEST PLEASE EMAIL TO ME DANIELLELINHART@AOL.COM

�� YOUR PASSION IS MY PASSION TOO.

�� ALWAYS REMEMBER TO STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF.

Danielle Joy Linhart is the author of From Deep Within A portion of the proceeds from her book will be donated to LoveIsRespect.org

If you know of a woman who will no longer grace our future because of domestic violence, please send us her story, or your own.

Get information on Domestic violence and violence against women at LadybugBooks.com

We invite any of you to contribute on this subject. We feel it is important to continue the discussion of domestic violence.

Read this feature from past issues.

We are looking for your stories remembering women's history. Send in your story and we will publish it.

Women Exceptional Women are Our History and Our Future:

Women

Mutual Sharing: This Is What Women Do
from Deb Reich, Israel

You already know, I hope, that these pages support those who help women. One of our favorite groups carrying out that work is PeaceXPeace. They, too, feature exceptional women and have offered to share some of their stories here. ~Georgia

December 15th, 2009
I'm an older Jewish woman, a writer, living in Israel/Palestine. I have a young Palestinian friend in Gaza called Maha; I think of her as my daughter. The hell that Gaza has become threatens to overwhelm her every day.

Jewish Israelis are supposed to hate and fear "the Arabs," especially Palestinians. But many of us resist. I believe that a new country of Palestine/Israel, struggling to emerge in blood and agony, will far outshine its parents someday, like any other ambitious offspring. Many of us can envision a new shared enterprise where, together, we shall build something wonderful for all our children.

Maha and I met when she translated my short story "Dudu in Heaven" into Arabic. I wondered how she would experience this tale about the 1967 war, told from an ordinary Israeli woman's perspective. "A beautiful story," she said, "but too sad; next time, write something not so sad." This empathic critique - one woman's caring response to another woman's portrayal of bereavement - made me her friend forever. We bonded on the soul level, through that story.

Regularly but infrequently, Maha and I still meet when she accompanies her young nephew Mohammed out of Gaza on a one-day Israeli travel "permit" for treatment of Mohammed's illness, a brutal genetic disease called CGD, at an Israeli hospital. (The quotation marks signify my protest that 1.5 million Gazans can't go anywhere without Israel's OK; lately Hamas, not to be outdone, instituted its own Gaza exit "permit" system.) Israel's siege on Gaza, plus political gamesmanship around healthcare funding, has compromised the healthcare for Mohammed and tens of thousands of other Gazans, and is jeopardizing the bone-marrow transplant his younger brother Yousif needs for this same disease. The children are blameless! How can we acquiesce for even one more hour in this insanity, while children are made to pay and pay and pay?

Maha, single by choice, a freethinking woman in a conservative patriarchal society, the angel for her nephews' healthcare, breadwinner for an extended family, keeps house for her elderly parents. She also worked full-time for a foreign NGO until being downsized recently. Maha is almost unsinkable, but she is only human. When she wavers, I encourage her by phone and email. I promise her repeatedly that soon Gaza will be free. I pray that I am right and that the long-sought shift will come quickly and bring real freedom, not just a change of repressive regime from foreign to local.

When Maha is in Israel with one of the boys, we hang out at the hospital; then we go and break bread together. Then I write about all this and readers sometimes send money, with their love, for Mohammed's medicines (unleaving@gmail.com). Now it's Yousif's turn. Meantime Maha supports me, too: She shares her joys and sorrows and fears with me, undeterred by the Orwellian obstacles meant to separate us. Our mutual sharing keeps us both human. This is what women do.

Reprinted with permission from PeaceXPeace. Please visit their site and help them continue their work for women worldwide.

Read this feature from past issues.

Do you know a Military Family under stress?
Dr. Eydie is offering free copies of her book Relationship Magic to military families!

Know someone who might want to be a host at TeenTalkNetwork.com? We have two teens on now and both are growing up fast. The only requirement is that they want to do it enough to stick to a schedule. They all find their voice as they go along. Desiree Nelson is older of our teens—she's in her first year of college this year and she and mom, Linda Nelson, are now cross-programmed to our site at LadybugLive—got a scholarship from Discover in large part because of her program. The other, Rae Quigley is a senior this year and has done several shows on how important it is for colleges that you do something outside the usual. So there are lots of benefits for the teen who can do this, not the least of which is the experience itself. It's a great gig for any teen!

If you are a writer and would like to become a NewVoices author or artist, contact:

Georgia@ladybugbooks.com
Please use the subject title: NewVoices Information

It's Not Your Same Old Radio!

"There are people who have something to say and those who have something to sell. We are interested in the ones with something special to teach the world."

For LadybugLive, TeenTalkNetwork, and MooseMeals to continue growing, we need correspondents and readers. The process is quite simple: submissions are by email. If accepted, a reader calls, either our local or our toll free number as directed in the acceptance email, to record. What will you be recording?

We are looking for: readings of original creative work, comment and commentary, and ideas for regularly appearing programming that can be done within this format. We are not able, as yet, to do direct call in shows, but shows that require listener (delayed) response are OK. All of this, of course, within the same guidelines as everything we do: Of interest to women (no particular restrictions). This format might also be ideal for some of those traditional topics, such as clothing and makeup, with a fresh "twist."

Send ideas and proposals to Georgia@ladybugbooks.com

We strive to bring you the best in women's writing.

And...

Keep up to date on what is happening at NewVoices and LadybugFlights by signing up for our monthly announcements!

We know online radio is new to many of you but we also know how rewarding it can be. So, if you need help to get started, don't hesitate to contact Georgia for help... And, hey! Our hosts love hearing from you!

Our teen site, TeenTalkNetwork.com programming is safe — no porn or other unwanted promotions are attached to our files.

The Internet promised and we are delivering.

New programming is always available at:
TeenTalkNetwork.com
MooseMeals.com
LadybugLive

Read this feature from past issues.

Starting a Business in a Small Town ...

where 20-year residents consider themselves newcomers

In a big city, you'll make decisions by numbers and neighborhoods. In a small town, you schmooze!

A walk along most streets of a small town is a chance to reminisce about days gone by. The site of a brick or stone building, a slate wall, an iron shutter or fence, or a historic home nestled in an old fashioned garden generally creates a welcome presence, but hiding behind this facade are residents who will need careful analysis if your going to have a successful business.

On first appearance, everyone will seem friendly, optimistic and positive. Your challenge will be to get below the surface and discover the true story. You should consider asking a lot of questions before you disclose your own intentions. In particular listen for, "I wish we had".

In most small towns you will find a bench outside a downtown business. Take the opportunity to sit for a while and watch the way businesses, employees, and customers interact. If your business will be in a shopping center, walk around the center until you have a sense of how foot traffic flows through he center and how people identify and get to the business of interest.

Step 1. Talk to others who have recently opened businesses

If your going to run a business you will need to have good people skills and this will be a chance for you to put them to work. Watch how business operators interact with customers and with each other. This will give you the info you need to plan how you will approach them and gather the information you will need. Remember, people like to feel needed and when they sense that you value their opinion they will often offer unsolicited information that can be of great value.

Prepare your questions and be sure to ad some questions that are directly related to the type of business you will visit. Key questions must include: What challenges have they faced? What works and what doesn't? Were other newcomers successful? If so, were they really new or did they have roots in the town, such as family who lived in the town for forty years?

If no one has opened a business in the recent past then dig deeper. Maybe there is no market for the business you have in mind. Perhaps they're just waiting for you to arrive, and your idea is unique! On occasion a new business can generate a demand that did not at first appear. You have to care enough to create change. What was tried five years ago may now be possible. The biggest challenge is to get people to accept the idea.

Step 2. Make a great first impression

Fit in! Body language and appearance will be major factors in how you communicate. Smile and listen!

Promotion is not difficult in a small town. Ten minutes after you've opened, everyone will know. Small towns often resist doing business with uppity newcomers while others welcome new blood. This is a critical step and one where you should do your research for each individual you plan to approach. Your first impression will linger a long, long time. And, you will have trouble recovering from a local opinion leader who had a bad experience with you.

Step 3. Expose the town's market and memory

Don't buy someone else's problems. Make sure that you can identify the competition for the business of interest and its ranking among similar businesses. It is often the established relationship among old timers that establishes the pecking order of small businesses. Remember, these relationships can and will change over time and the position of the businesses involved will change as a result. Don't assume that you can step in and become a replacement for an individual in one of these established relationships. Trust is earned. Be aware of change and what pressures are in place and from whom.

When you are considering buying an existing business, take time to determine the owner's reputation. When you discover that the local residents are eager for a change of management, you'll need a new name and image (brand). However, if someone has just moved away and everyone misses them, you've have a great opportunity.

Step 4. Search the fine print of local regulations

When you are considering starting a new business you should expect to fight all kinds of red tape to get your business opened. Any time you serve food or drink, you know you're facing permits. Find out what's involved locally and what the typical time frame has been for the permits that will apply to your business. Just because it's a city/county organization does not mean that personal relationships can be ignored. You will hear comments like 'Joe is the one to talk to. Nothing gets done until he moves it along". (Even if Joe has little or nothing to do with the permit)

Step 5. Prepare to do most of the work yourself

In a small town, you should expect to have some trouble finding good help. The local work ethic will likely surprise you in either direction. it is a good idea to do your homework by asking other businesses if they have done any business with the applicant. In a small town jobs are limited and old timers have learned how to pitch themselves in a way that can easily fool a business owner who is new to the town. Visit other businesses where the individual is likely to shop and try some conversation such as "I met Joe X the other day and he seemed like an interesting guy". Comments like this can encourage people to offer/embellish your comments with what can be very informative stories.

Step 6. Know your community

Verify whether your market will come from second and third generation local residents. Or, will your business serve those who have recently relocated from urban areas. For example if you plan to open a coffee shop you may well meet folks who think three dollars is way too much to pay for espresso drinks, however, those who bonded with Starbucks in an urban area will buy at least one cup a day, every day.

Step 7. Build relationships

You can not be successful without becoming part of organizations formed by other businesses. Some organizations are more useful than others in promoting your business. The Chamber of Commerce is number one on the list. Organizations such as Veterans groups are also high on the list. Others, such as Tourist Bureaus, and Better Business Bureau are less useful. Ads in local papers may help, but must be run for a length of time to have any real value. When you consider using/participating remember that these organizations are a path to old timers who can make or break your business.

If you can attract the business of a town leader, you'll create a following. Conversely, if you alienate a key player, or if a local person's got an idea on the drawing board, you will be fighting an uphill battle.. In a small town, you'll be expected to be a super-citizen. Choose your alliances and sponsorships carefully. Prepare for all sorts of friendly requests to donate time, materials and money. Donations should be based on high visibility and how it will establish a relationship between your business and key players in the town.

Happy Trails,

B.S.

Read this feature from past issues.

Books, Cooks, Looks & Ms. Elani

Dear Friends and Readers,

...the 'ghosts' discovered will reappear and make the reader wonder.

The Gardens of Kyoto
by Kate Walbert
ISBN 9780684869483

A house is much more than the interior walls, furniture and decorations. The yard, garden and surroundings add more but the people that inhabit the house make it a home. In the novel by Kate Walbert, The Gardens of Kyoto, there are many houses where the heroine lives but only one that has the ability to draw her back: her Uncle Sterling and cousin Randall's home across the bay from Baltimore. The house, a style usually found on a large plantation in Savannah, was surrounded by cornfields. As a young girl Ellen and Randall discovered secrets from the past in a room hidden away but one that could have been found by anyone that was adventurous.

Gardens of Kyoto, is multilayered; each layer must be understood to explain the next. Ellen, who was a young girl in the 1950's, is a middle sister whose life revolves around the typical life of that era: mother at home, schools, dating and many Sundays spent with her uncle and Randall. Easter Sunday was always spent with them.

When Randall was killed in Iwo Jimo Ellen receives Randall's secret diary and a book called 'The Garden of Kyoto'. Through an imagined love, reunions with Uncle Sterling and the meeting of a woman called Ruby, the reader is able to see through the garden and the meanings of the rocks, flowers and various other messages. But each event, no matter how seemingly unimportant, always brings Ellen back to the house across the bay.

For anyone interested in World War II and the impact on families and our country, this is a wonderful read. Long after the last page is finished, the 'ghosts' discovered will reappear and make the reader wonder.

Read this feature from past issues.

From the EDITOR

Myth and Magic in Your New Cell Phone

1st - Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112.. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

According to Wikipedia:
In the United States, the FCC requires networks to route every mobile-phone and payphone 911 call to an emergency service call center, including phones that have never had service, or whose service has lapsed. As a result, there are programs that provide donated used mobile phones to victims of domestic violence and others especially likely to need emergency services. As the information above states, some cell phones will dial emergency numbers even when locked. This can cause additional problems since those cell phones can pocket dial and add stress to the emergency systems.

112, btw, is not an international emergency number but some cell phones have the ability to redirect to local emergency numbers even when outside their country.

2nd - Keys
Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone:
If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).

This does not work, and aren't you glad it doesn't? After all, car theives have friends with cell phones, too!

3rd - Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

Wouldn't we all like to have a little extra energy? Unfortunately, from what I can find out, you won't get it this way.

4th - How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone.
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#. A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

Nope... Well, not necessarily. This doesn't work on every phone, but some phones do reveal what is called an International Mobile Equipment identity or "IEMI" number when punching in the code of "*#06#." This is especially true for GSM/DCS/PCS phones. If such a phone is stolen, it can be "greylisted" or "blacklisted." Greylisted means that the phone can still be used but can also be tracked. Blacklisting means that the phone cannot be used.

5th - Free Directory Service for Cells
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE-411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all.. Program this into your cell phone now. This is sponsored by McDonalds.

Interestingly, this one is true. It seems that there are several different ways to access this service and free may be in the eye of the beholder: You pay your way by listening to their advertising; or you pay in minutes, especially if you select the text option to hear your ads. Add another number to this discussion and you actually have FREE information. It is from Google, which already brings you almost everything else. If you dial: 1-800-GOOG-411 you get real free information and, from the video demonstration at their site, it works pretty well.

Now, if you run out of cool things to do with that phone, you can find me on Twitter where I am peachieG. At this writing, I haven't tweeted anyone yet or connected with a friend, but I'm there and will have something to say soon, I promise... As soon as I figure out why I signed up for this thing?

Happy New Year to you all!!

Georgia Jones, Editor

Read this feature from past issues.

At LadybugFlights we have always encouraged the participation of our readers. For that reason we have this space, a place where you can be heard. Nothing as formal as an article or a column... Just some venting, self-expression, or a chance to communicate what you are thinking on almost any topic. Send it to us and we will let you know if we can use it!

TOP

Read this feature from past issues.

Please write to us. We want to hear what you think:
LadybugFlights.com