It was discombobulating. With all the destruction and massive flooding in lower Manhattan and outlying areas, the worst thing Hurricane Sandy did to my uptown neck of the woods was close the libraries. I was all set to return my DVD movies for a fresh supply when Sandy blew into town and knocked out power below 34th street, effectively shutting down the entire NYC Pubic library system.

This morning I’ve been looking at photos of flooded downtown and destroyed homes and mud-splattered businesses in hard hit coastal areas where almost two million people are still without power or heat. And some still don’t have water. Families stand in patient, somber lines waiting for food or to fill jugs with gasoline. Last night temps hit the thirties. And I know, thanks to this old brownstone’s sometimes dysfunctional boiler, no thickness of blankets can keep you warm when it’s that cold. And at some point you have to throw off those blankets and dress in a freezing room without benefit of a warm shower or hot breakfast.

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When it come to Christmas sparkle, New York City is top star. Up and down the avenues trees are sheathed in blue, gold and silver lights. Fifth Avenue blazes with fabulously conceived store windows and decorations.

Pictured here from top to bottom:

Normally a conservative player on the Christmas scene,  jeweler Harry Winston illuminated his building this year with glittering diamond medallions and strings of gleaming gems.

Middle: gigantic candy canes climb a skyscraper on 57th Street.

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Let’s say you’ve got something to sell: a product, a service or maybe even yourself and you’ve got all the basics covered with an excellent product at an excellent price.

Now what marketing tactics can you use to distinguish yourself from your competitors? AND accomplish that for zero dollars?

Beyond all the practical stuff, have you considered offering additional little extras to engage, even delight your prospective audience? On Fifth Avenue recently I watched a street musician do exactly that. It was just before closing time at the Met Museum. The front staircase was packed with departing visitors, usually a fairly jaded crowd. By the time they hit the museum many tourists have already been entertained around town by high flying break dancers, mimes in silver paint posing a la the Stature of Liberty and large boisterous bands.

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Okay, you’ve just been fired. Or another calamity has you running out of money at the speed of sound. Or maybe you just want to mercilessly cut corners to save money for a coveted object, trip or some other goodie.

It’s time to hit the kitchen and see where you can squeeze money out of your eating, cooking and shopping habits. Here are some tips to get you started on your goal of saving money in the food department.

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Recently the BBC featured an article about an American company’s new process of zapping mold spores so bread can lounge around kitchens mold-free for 60 days. Ducky. Somehow the story didn’t mention the taste or feel of that bread at the end of two long months. It did say, however, that consumers might not so quickly jump onto this new technology.

To put their case in a positive light, a company executive explained that currently bread manufacturers load up bread with preservatives to fight mold. They then blitz the bread with extra chemicals to mask the taste of those preservatives. Tumbling bread in their new mold-killing machines would eliminate all those extra additives and chemicals.

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Just how harmful is melamine, an industrial chemical made of coal that’s processed into plastic, fertilizer, industrial coatings, veneers and….tableware? Let’s count the ways:

1.  In 1999 The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded there was sufficient evidence to show that melamine can act as a carcinogen in animals.
2.  In 2007 after numerous American pets died, 60 million packages of pet food imported from China were recalled. The poisoning agent turned out to be melamine. Ground up and used as a cheap filler to imitate protein, melamine was added to the pet food to make it seem healthier than it was and to fatten manufacturer’s profits.
3.  In 2008 Six babies died in China and 300,000 were badly sickened, many with kidney stones, after drinking milk heavily adulterated with melamine. Again the powdered melamine had been added to the milk to falsely boost its protein content and to line numerous manufacturer’s pockets with bigger profits. Given China’s poor record of releasing negative national news, it’s assumed the baby deaths and illnesses were under reported. Two of the guilty food executives were executed.
4.  In 2011 those executions didn’t stop still MORE Chinese food manufacturers from trying to pull the same stunt when the government confiscated 26 TONS of melamine-contaminated powdered milk that was about to be churned into ice cream. In the absence of any organized (or even disorganized) food industry regulations in China, greedy food manufacturers gambled they wouldn’t be caught  — and lost.
5.  In November 2012 unidentified men murdered the Chinese dairy owner who had first warned authorities in 2006 that neighboring dairies were adding dangerous amounts of chemicals to their milk. (Authorities initially ignored his warnings and murky shadows continue to darken the Chinese melamine world).
6. Which brings us to January 21, 2013.  Citing a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the LA Times reported that serving hot food on melamine tableware could increase our exposure to melamine. Researchers in Taiwan had served test participants hot soup in both melamine and ceramic bowls. After participants ate the soup out of melamine bowls, their melamine levels peaked at about 8 parts per billion.  Those who later ate out of ceramic bowls had an average of less than 2 parts per billion but the researchers suggested those 2 parts were probably left over from their earlier melamine bowl sampling.

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Oh, Central Park, what a mess you were during the Seventies and Eighties. Dead, burnt out grass. Overgrown weeds a machete couldn’t hack through. Playing fields choked with dust every time the wind blew. Debris and litter everywhere. By nightfall, you were a shadowy desert roamed by rogues looking for money and trouble.

Daytime safety could be chancy too.  Walking along paths with sparse strollers, I remember checking approaching males to gauge their intent and feeling uneasy when I suddenly found myself alone on a path. When I suggested a walk in the park to first time city visitors, some thought I was kidding, some thought I was nuts and some edged cautiously into the park as though entering a tiger’s den.

Still I clung to you. Yes, Central Park, you were shoddy and sad and barely a shadow of your early glory, horse and carriage days, but you were still my trusty escape from all the noise, racing pace and pressurized demands of the surrounding city.

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When I first wrote about GM salmon two years ago, the genetically engineered fish created by AquaBounty Technology appeared ready to hit the market. The FDA had just pronounced the salmon safe to eat and final approval was expected that summer. Combining genes from 2 species of salmon with a peculiar looking pouter eel, the GM salmon were said to grow at double the speed of wild salmon.

Since then, however, resistance to GM products has been growing. California voters have been especially vociferous in pushing for labels on GM foods.

And this past week, three influential food companies, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Aldi’s, banned genetically engineered seafood from their shelves. That’s 2000 outlets between them.

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I was working late last night when I gave my email a final check and found a message from my cousin Mark with the subject line: ”Phillippine Trip…….Help!!! Mark”

His message went on to say (verbatim): “I’m sorry i didn’t inform you before leaving, Few days back my family and I made an unannounced  vacation trip to Makati Philippine. Everything was going fine until last night when we were  mugged on our way back to the  hotel.They Stole all our cash,credit cards and cellphone but thank God we  still have our lives and passports safe. The  hotel manager has been unhelpful to us for reasons i don’t know.I’m writing you from a local library.

I’ve reported to the police and after writing down some statements that’s the last i had from them.i contacted the  consulate and all i keep hearing is they will get back to me. Our return flight leaves soon…I need you to help me out  with a fast loan to settle our bills here so we can get back home . I’ll refund the money as soon as we get back. All i need is $1,750 USD..Let me know what you can do so I can tell you how to get the money to me.

I owe you alot.

Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by the mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of crap by the clean end.”

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When Christine L’s beloved Rottweiler was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2010, she couldn’t afford chemotherapy. Between vomiting and diarrhea, her dog was soon losing two pounds a day. Desperate, she turned to the Internet. Searching for ways to alleviate her pet’s suffering, she read about the successful treatment of human cancers with cannabis, which stimulated appetite, controlled nausea and provided pain relief. Though legally available in 19 states to treat serious human illnesses including cancer, arthritis, aids, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, medical marijuana is still not approved to treat chronically ill animals.

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