The Leader in Value: Big City Deals

Do you know what the mantra of the new decade is? If a previous decade, and the generation that defined that period, could be summarized by "Plastics," then this new decade will be about something far more important: Value. For consumers want value from retailers in every arena of business, from dining to hospitality to health care to travel to personal services to home and auto repair. Giving people what they want - when they want it! - is the essence of value. And, while many companies purport to provide value (and believe me, I've reviewed or contacted the major players in this industry), only one brand lives up to all the hype: Big City Deals (www.bigcitydeals.com) .

Big City Deals gives people incredible deals - you can see the savings on the homepage - from a diverse array of retailers. Best of all, there are no gimmicks. No stories about secret buying power or leveraging the influence of groups of consumers. No fine print. No misleading language. No lies. Period.

Since I live in Los Angeles, I can testify to the convenience and accessibility of Big City Deals. The site is easy to use - again: Big City Deals makes simplicity a virtue - and the deals appeal to consumers who want quality, which is (and should be) non-negotiable, and smart pricing. I receive daily updates from the brand, delivered right to my in-box, allowing me to stay apprised of the great bargains that I need.

Finally, some parting thoughts about competing sites that claim to be as good if not better than Big City Deals: they're not. These other sites are cumbersome, costly (in time) and confusing. And that's just the C's!

Do yourself a favor -- subscribe to Big City Deals! You deserve the best.

Peace Of Mind Indulgence

You love ice cream. I love ice cream. We all love ice cream! But - and yes, there is a but - most types of ice cream would make a consumer or nutritionist cringe: artificial sweeteners, food coloring, corn syrup, unnecessary calories, weird additives and other ingredients that are just plain bad. For diabetics, these products are reason enough to run to the nearest grocer and say, Help me! Now! Which is why I am happy to report there is one brand that is delicious, healthy and symbolic of the very things we hold dear: Agave Dream (www.agavedream.com), a healthier ice cream made without preservatives or other nasty chemicals.

Agave Nectar does not use milk with hormones, kudos to the company for being so self-aware, while also embracing the power of agave nectar, nature's ultimate sweetener. And therein lies the beauty of this amazing ice cream: it tastes great, and it's a "peace of mind" indulgence that doesn't make you feel guilty about enjoying a wonderful treat. Check out the brand -- it's a winner!

Discussion With My Date 4

This is my favorite song.

Here’s a rambling late night conversation with my date.

I discuss about my dreams of playing running back for Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s.

I talk about my favorite movie of 2009 — “An Education.” It’s about a 16yo British schoolgirl who’s courted by a Jewish playboy twice her age and distracts her from her preparations for Oxford.

The Torah does not recognize a difference between a 14-year old girl and a 16-year old girl and an 18-year old girl. They are all adults.

But the Jew in this movie is rather naughty, picking up this innocent girl and flying her to Paris, oy vey!

 

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A Rambling Late Night Discussion With My Date III

This is my favorite song.

Here’s a rambling late night conversation with my date.

I discuss about my dreams of playing running back for Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s.

I talk about my favorite movie of 2009 — “An Education.” It’s about a 16yo British schoolgirl who’s courted by a Jewish playboy twice her age and distracts her from her preparations for Oxford.

The Torah does not recognize a difference between a 14-year old girl and a 16-year old girl and an 18-year old girl. They are all adults.

But the Jew in this movie is rather naughty, picking up this innocent girl and flying her to Paris, oy vey!

 

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Late Night Discussion With My Date II

This is my favorite song.

Here’s a rambling late night conversation with my date.

I discuss about my dreams of playing running back for Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s.

I talk about my favorite movie of 2009 — “An Education.” It’s about a 16yo British schoolgirl who’s courted by a Jewish playboy twice her age and distracts her from her preparations for Oxford.

The Torah does not recognize a difference between a 14-year old girl and a 16-year old girl and an 18-year old girl. They are all adults.

But the Jew in this movie is rather naughty, picking up this innocent girl and flying her to Paris, oy vey!

 

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A Rambling Late Night Discussion With My Date

This is my favorite song.

Here’s a rambling late night conversation with my date.

I discuss about my dreams of playing running back for Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s.

I talk about my favorite movie of 2009 — “An Education.” It’s about a 16yo British schoolgirl who’s courted by a Jewish playboy twice her age and distracts her from her preparations for Oxford.

The Torah does not recognize a difference between a 14-year old girl and a 16-year old girl and an 18-year old girl. They are all adults.

But the Jew in this movie is rather naughty, picking up this innocent girl and flying her to Paris, oy vey!

 

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American Airline Security Checkers

I always feel like I’m rubbing up against the bottom of America’s barrel when I go through security checks at an American airports. The people doing them appear bored and incompetent.

They appear a lot dumber than any of their peers around the world. Those doing the checking in Europe and Australia appear a ton smarter.

So why do we get the dregs in America? I don’t know. It appears that affirmative action plays an important role in hiring. I don’t see people being hired for their merit. They get hired for acting like sheep.

Rob Eshman writes in the Jewish Journal:

At Israel’s airport counters, personnel are college students or graduates who have also completed army service. They are uniformly intelligent and well trained. That is often not the case with Transportation Security Administration employees.

“The TSA should be hiring talented and skilled people; it should not be an alternative to Welfare.,” said Israel-based security consultant Marc Prowiser.

 

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Big Boy Rules: America’s Mercenaries Fighting In Iraq

Despite a stomach bug, I interviewed by phone Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru Wednesday evening, Jan. 13, 2010, about his 2009 book Big Boy Rules.

Luke: “Tell me about the impact of 9/11 upon you personally and professionally.”

Steve: “It had a profound impact. When it happened, I was in Washington. I was covering sports… That job became immediately obsolete. I was tasked to cover terrorism. It took me to New York. Then the [Iraq] war started and I got caught up in the war for the better part of three years.”

“There were several books I could’ve written about Iraq. This story, both personally and professionally, resonated with me the most… The whole private security madness going on over there, the hidden quality of it, it just made it a rich topic.”

Luke: “Why do you think there was a lack of journalistic investigation of the Bush administration’s claims of WMD in Iraq in the run-up before the Iraq war?”

 

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Author Steve Fainaru Of Big Boy Rules

Luke: “Why do you think there was a lack of journalistic investigation of the Bush administration’s claims of WMD in Iraq in the run-up before the Iraq war?”

Steve: “The country was in a fever. Nine-eleven changed the dynamic in the country. Newsrooms, like the rest of the country, got caught up in it and we lost sight of our accountability function as a counterweight to the government.”

“The coverage of the [Iraq] war has been quite good. A lot of it was the result of the lessons of going into the war and things that the news media certainly missed.”

Luke: “How would you describe the emotional tone of your book?”

Steve: “In what sense?”

Luke: “It seemed to be very strong emotions driving the book?”

 

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George Gilder Speaks About His New Book 4

6 pm. Jan. 12. 2010. Skirball lobby.

George Gilder paces nervously. A man promises to get him a cup of coffee.

George walks off and drinks some cold water.

“Now’s my chance,” I think.

I summon my courage and I walk up to him.

“Mr. Gilder,” I boom. “I’m a big fan.”

He turns to me and says, “And you are?”

“I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging for 15 years.”

“And your name is?” he says.

“Luke Ford. I read your book Men and Marriage 20 years ago.”

 

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George Gilder Speaks About His New Book 3

6 pm. Jan. 12. 2010. Skirball lobby.

George Gilder paces nervously. A man promises to get him a cup of coffee.

George walks off and drinks some cold water.

“Now’s my chance,” I think.

I summon my courage and I walk up to him.

“Mr. Gilder,” I boom. “I’m a big fan.”

He turns to me and says, “And you are?”

“I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging for 15 years.”

“And your name is?” he says.

“Luke Ford. I read your book Men and Marriage 20 years ago.”

 

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George Gilder Speaks About His New Book 2

6 pm. Jan. 12. 2010. Skirball lobby.

George Gilder paces nervously. A man promises to get him a cup of coffee.

George walks off and drinks some cold water.

“Now’s my chance,” I think.

I summon my courage and I walk up to him.

“Mr. Gilder,” I boom. “I’m a big fan.”

He turns to me and says, “And you are?”

“I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging for 15 years.”

“And your name is?” he says.

“Luke Ford. I read your book Men and Marriage 20 years ago.”

 

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George Gilder Speaks About His New Book

6 pm. Jan. 12. 2010. Skirball lobby.

George Gilder paces nervously. A man promises to get him a cup of coffee.

George walks off and drinks some cold water.

“Now’s my chance,” I think.

I summon my courage and I walk up to him.

“Mr. Gilder,” I boom. “I’m a big fan.”

He turns to me and says, “And you are?”

“I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging for 15 years.”

“And your name is?” he says.

“Luke Ford. I read your book Men and Marriage 20 years ago.”

 

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The Ultimate Snack: Bobo's Oat Bars

I like healthy snacks, nothing artificially flavored or poorly conceived. Too often companies ignore this principle, and manufacture sugary or salty products that are incredibly bad for people. Maybe there is this belief that because snacks are just that, a break between meals (as if breakfast, lunch and dinner are not supposed to contain delicious food), we should indulge -- never mind the consequences! Indeed, the best snacks uphold the things that matter most to millions of consumers: all natural ingredients, great taste and a commitment to transforming (for the better) the way we shop for snacks. All of which brings me to Bobo's Oat Bars (www.bobosoatbars.com), one of the most incredible snacks I have ever tried. (Full disclosure: Someone who handles social media for the brand sent me an email encouraging me to try the product, so I visited my local Whole Foods and bought some of the four flavors the store carries, and my reaction was . . . wow! Yes, wow! The taste was so delightful.)

Attention Vs. Love

Mary: Maybe it’s the holidays but the extracarricular flirting is reaching critical mass.

Mary: And it’s fun and long-distance, so why stop?

Mary: But since nothing fun is right, it must be wrong.

Mary: Right?

YourMoralLeader: flirting on whose part?

YourMoralLeader: yeah, it is not good, drains your sexual essence

Mary: Others start it, I feed it.

Mary: And feed on it.

Mary: I absolutely live on adoration. I’m an addict. Attention is my drug of choice.

YourMoralLeader: Attention is our substitute for love

Mary: That’s just it, it’s not. It’s all part of it. I love and am loved but it’s never enough. I think “attention whore” is a pretty good descriptor. After all, people ‘pay’ attention, and the result is an almost sexual thrill. Or an actual sexual thrill, depending on the attention paid.

 

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Dennis Prager For President

During his second hour of his radio show today, Dennis Prager said: “If I ran for president, and I am actually thinking of doing so, I don’t expect to win but I would like to throw my hat in because I believe the number of Republicans who can inspire Americans to understand the great American calling is small. I wish it weren’t because I am not a political animal.”

In marketing terms, this is called “the reluctant hero.”

Think about the protagonist in Gladiator, Braveheart or The Patriot. These are reluctant heroes. They just want to stay home to be with their families. They don’t want to fight. They only fight because the bad guys give them no choice.

 

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Jewish Las Vegas Is A Feudal Town

I expect a Jewish newspaper to return to Las Vegas around Passover.

It will be called The Las Vegas Jewish Ink. It has no website yet.

“The Las Vegas Jewish Reporter” was closed by the local Federation last year.

Jewish Las Vegas is a feudal society. A few billionaires call the shots (some of the world’s wealthiest Jews live there, such as Sheldon Adelson of the Venetian) and the community is usually happy to follow their directions.

What troubles the Las Vegas Jewish Federation troubles most non-profits. There’s a lack of oversight. There’s not an engaged lay board. They’re not inspired and committed. They have no mission.

 

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Is Yoga Idol-Worship?

Oy! The Lubavitcher rebbe said that all forms of yoga (in addition to transcendental meditation) are not kosher.

Oy! Why does this have to come up now? I quite enjoy going to Chabad. Oy!

Beth comments: “Do you follow the Lubavitcher rebbe? I’m pretty sure lusting after shiksas isn’t kosher either.”

Beth, in your morally degraded state, you do not understand that for me shiksas are purely a form of exercise. Practice, as it were, for the real thing that awaits me on the Great Day.

Many shiksas argue these days that they are just archetypal principles, but any third-grader in Hebrew school will tell you that they are idols. Veneration and offerings are unacceptable. I avoid shiksas where the shiksa is too into the mythos.

 

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Good Luck Is The Most Important Ingredient

I’ll never forget the day my therapist asked me, “What do you get out of being in an emotionally unsafe relationship?”

I’d never though of that. The question took me aback, but then I quickly answered, “It leaves me free to look. I’m not risking anything precious. I can talk to all the women I want and see if I can find someone better for me.

“If I walked around with a million dollar diamond entrusted to me and I also knew that it would be really easy to lose it, it could happen any moment, I’d feel tremendous anxiety. On the other hand, if you gave me a $1 diamond and told me I could lose it easily, I wouldn’t care so much.

 

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Operation Optimism: An Interview

I’m walking home from the library. A young black man follows me carrying a bag.

It’s dark. I cross to the other side of the street next to the basketball court. From there, a group of young black men yell out at the young man, “Why You Trying To Look Like A Schoolboy, Nigger?”

He keeps silent and skulks on.

I look at him differently. So that bag was filled with books? I guess we have a lot in common. We could hang. Man, I had no idea of the pressure you were under from your friends. Books are life, man. They are a tree of life to those who hold them close.

 

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The Case For Racial Profiling

Dennis Prager said near the end of his second hour today of his radio show: “The U.S. intensifies screening of travelers from 14 nations.”

He reads from the New York Times report.

“Apparently we are nationally profiling and religiously profiling.

“Isn’t that profiling? So all of the left-wing hullabaloo about profiling turns out to be nonsense?

“For all of my lifetime, the very notion that person X from background X might be more likely to commit a certain crime was considered racism. Not common sense. Racism. Now all of a sudden a dictate has gone out from the White House and it’s no longer racism.”

 

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He Slept With A Supermodel

This bloke in New York slept with a supermodel.

"Did you use a condom?" he was asked.

"That would be like eating the best meal with a napkin on your tongue," he replied.

Oy vey. Baby, you eat pig.

"And now you do too," she said.

Operation Optimism: An Interview III

My New Jersey friend Alec Borenstein is an attorney and a life coach.

He has this Facebook group “Operation Optimism.”

“We’re constantly bombarded with negative imagery,” says Alec. “If you just watch the 11pm news, you will see that almost every story is about what we should be afraid of, what we should run from. All these different ways of closing ourselves off as people. With Operation Optimism, I want to create a community of people who focus on what is going well in the world.”

I interview Alec at my hovel on Sunday.

“We’re not going to be unreasonably optimistic,” he says. “The idea is to understand the reality of our situation and to change it, to move towards a more positive direction.”

“If you focus on what is going well in your life, you can change more effectively.”

Alec’s father Abraham is also an attorney as well as a Broadway producer.

 

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Operation Optimism: An Interview II

My New Jersey friend Alec Borenstein is an attorney and a life coach.

He has this Facebook group “Operation Optimism.”

“We’re constantly bombarded with negative imagery,” says Alec. “If you just watch the 11pm news, you will see that almost every story is about what we should be afraid of, what we should run from. All these different ways of closing ourselves off as people. With Operation Optimism, I want to create a community of people who focus on what is going well in the world.”

I interview Alec at my hovel on Sunday.

“We’re not going to be unreasonably optimistic,” he says. “The idea is to understand the reality of our situation and to change it, to move towards a more positive direction.”

“If you focus on what is going well in your life, you can change more effectively.”

Alec’s father Abraham is also an attorney as well as a Broadway producer.

 

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Operation Optimism: An Interview

My New Jersey friend Alec Borenstein is an attorney and a life coach.

He has this Facebook group “Operation Optimism.”

“We’re constantly bombarded with negative imagery,” says Alec. “If you just watch the 11pm news, you will see that almost every story is about what we should be afraid of, what we should run from. All these different ways of closing ourselves off as people. With Operation Optimism, I want to create a community of people who focus on what is going well in the world.”

I interview Alec at my hovel on Sunday.

“We’re not going to be unreasonably optimistic,” he says. “The idea is to understand the reality of our situation and to change it, to move towards a more positive direction.”

“If you focus on what is going well in your life, you can change more effectively.”

Alec’s father Abraham is also an attorney as well as a Broadway producer.

 

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Tom Sowell Discusses His New Book – The Housing Boom and Bust

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=14592 Dennis Prager talked to economist Tom Sowell, 79, on Dec. 15, 2009 about his new book “The Housing Boom and Bust”.

Hitler finds out YICC let Rabbi Weiner go!

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=15280 Hitler was so excited to finally see Rabbi Weiner in action at Young Israel of Century City, to only find out that YICC let him leave….to Cedars.