Paula Deen diabetes: Make the most of it, crisis expert urges

Paula Deen is just blowing it, y'all. That's what one crisis management expert says.

The queen of butter has officially pulled back the curtain on a poorly kept secret. She confirmed the long-swirling rumors, via interviews with USA Today and the "Today" show, that she has Type 2 diabetes. She also announced -- conveniently -- that she's the new spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, which supplies her diabetes medication.

Did she then renounce her deep-fried, butter-and-sugar dripping ways? Did she announce plans to launch a sensible exercise regimen and invite the country to come along and get healthy with her?

Nope, nope and nope. In fact, Deen suggested that she has no plans to change her cooking style, although she says she has quit drinking so much sweet tea and walks regularly on her treadmill.

And that's where Paula Deen and her entourage completely blew it, said Mike Paul of MGP & Associates PR, a New York-based crisis management firm.

As he sees it, the crisis in Deen's brand is creating a golden opportunity. Deen could forgo her caloric ways and lead the charge to help the nation combat its obesity problem, he said. She could even invite the public to join her personal journey toward health and wellness -- and in the process launch a new franchise.

"She can say, 'Throw out the deep fryer,'" Paul said. "She can say, 'No more fried chicken. Now, I'm going to make it baked, and it's going to taste just as good.'"

Instead, he said, Deen appears to be playing a cagey game with the public by trying to have her cake and eat it too (pun intended). And it could undermine her fame and fortune.

We asked Paul how he would handle this branding crisis. Here's what he said:

"If I am sitting in the war room for Paula Deen brands right now, with all the attorneys and branding experts, I would say, 'Here's the bottom line. In every crisis, there is an opportunity. You have to choose to embrace it or not.'"

First off, Paul said, Deen should confront the three-year delay between her diagnosis and Monday's confirmation. "The only reason you'd wait three years is because you were concerned about what this news would do to your brand," he said. "I would advise her to simply tell the truth, 'I was nervous and afraid about announcing it. I didn't know what it would mean.' Everybody would understand that."

He also said he'd have advised her against "reaching for the green" of an endorsement deal at the same time she was revealing her diabetes. It could smack of opportunism. "Someone, someone very unwise, thought the best way of putting a spin on this was to immediately sign on with a diabetes drug," Paul said.

That's not a deal breaker, however.

But this is, he said: Deen continues to be unapologetic about her approach to cooking (she preaches an "all things in moderation" philosophy) and seems tight-lipped about plans to change her lifestyle.

This is a gray area that the public will find problematic, he said. Most people know that a diabetes drug is not the only answer. If Deen is simply going to take the medication but not take steps to change her diet and fitness regimen in a significant way or to advise her fans to do the same, then she risks losing her credibility, Paul said.

Audiences might start to feel conned, he warned, wondering whether Deen really cares about them, or just their wallets.

But all doesn't have to be lost, Paul said.

Deen could blow up her butter empire, he suggested, and replace it with a "Southern health food" empire that could make her far more popular.

"She has an opportunity to say, 'Times are a changing, y'all.... There's a way of making something taste good, in a healthier way," Paul said. "She could say, 'I used to think that taste was most important, but now I realize that nothing is more important than my family, nothing is more important than to see my grandkids. And I need to be healthy for that. That will always trump taste. I am not going to compromise on good food and flavor; I am going to do it in a healthier way.'"

"Sure, she might lose some fans who enjoy being fat and don't want to change, but she could reach a whole set of fans who want to follow her and be just like her and get healthy," Paul said.

She could even do this in celebrity style, he said. After all, Deen knows Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Mehmet Oz and all the celebrity chefs in America. Why not throw out a challenge to her celebrity chef friends to help make over her recipes?

"I think there could be a huge opportunity that she finds in, in the midst of what someone else calls a crisis," he said.

So there you have it, the outline of a new business opportunity for Paula Deen.

Of course, neither Deen nor her representatives were available Tuesday to answer questions about what her diabetes acknowledgment might mean for the Deen brand -- much less her future career options.

Monday's forecast: Storms for Northwest, central USA

The cold and unstable airmass of the Northwest will spread into the Central Great Basin and the Central Rockies by early Monday morning as a strong cold front moves through the area. Below average temperatures in these regions will allow widely scattered light snow showers to develop through the morning hours.

Snow in the Central Rockies will be enhanced by a system and moisture pushing out of the desert Southwest. Total snow accumulations in the mountains are expected to range from 5 to 10 inches with locally higher amounts. Gusty southwest winds may create periods of drifting snow through the day.

A Winter Weather Advisory will remain in effect for the Central Rockies through Monday evening. Behind this system, chilly, below normal temperatures will persist in much of the West. Another disturbance will move across Washington in the afternoon, allowing for more rain and mountain snow showers. Meanwhile, the trough of low pressure in the Northwest will slide out of the Northern Rockies and a cold front will extend from the Upper Great Lakes through the Central and Southern Plains.

Southerly flow ahead of this front and its associated low-pressure system in the Central Plains will usher moisture from the Gulf of Mexico north. This will lead to generally light rain showers in the Lower Mississippi Valley and eastern Texas through the afternoon.

Showers will increase and spread into the Tennessee and Ohio Valley during the evening/Monday night with possible thunderstorm activity as the cold front pushes eastward.

Doomsday Clock Moved One Minute Closer to Midnight

WASHINGTON, DC, January 10, 2012 (ENS) - "Inadequate progress on nuclear weapons reduction and proliferation, and continuing inaction on climate change," prompted the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists today to push the hands of the Doomsday Clock one minute closer to midnight.

"It is five minutes to midnight," said the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists group, announcing their decision at a news conference in Washington. "Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in 2007."

The last time the Doomsday Clock minute hand moved was in January 2010, when it was pushed back one minute from five to six minutes before midnight. The clock's hands have been adjusted 20 times since its inception in 1947, when the clock was initially set to seven minutes to midnight.

The Doomsday Clock expresses how close this group of scientists belives humanity is to catastrophic destruction, symbolized by midnight on the clock. The group monitors the means humankind could use to obliterate itself. First and foremost, these include nuclear weapons, but they also encompass climate-changing technologies and new developments in the life sciences that could inflict irrevocable harm.

"Inaction on key issues including climate change, and rising international tensions motivate the movement of the clock," said Lawrence Krauss, co-chair, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors and a professor with the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics departments at Arizona State University.

"As we see it," he told reporters, "the major challenge at the heart of humanity's survival in the 21st century is how to meet energy needs for economic growth in developing and industrial countries without further damaging the climate, exposing people to loss of health and community, and without risking further spread of nuclear weapons, and in fact setting the stage for global reductions."

"Even though climate change is happening and is getting more urgent as we speak," warned Krauss, "no comprehensive global action is happening."

"The global community may be near a point of no return in efforts to prevent catastrophe from changes in Earth's atmosphere," warned Allison Macfarlane, who chairs the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board and is a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on American's Nuclear Future, and an associate professor with George Mason University.

"The International Energy Agency projects that, unless societies begin building alternatives to carbon-emitting energy technologies over the next five years, the world is doomed to a warmer climate, harsher weather, droughts, famine, water scarcity, rising sea levels, loss of island nations, and increasing ocean acidification," said Macfarlane.

"Since fossil-fuel burning power plants and infrastructure built in 2012-2020 will produce energy and emissions for 40 to 50 years, the actions taken in the next few years will set us on a path that will be impossible to redirect," she said. "Even if policy leaders decide in the future to reduce reliance on carbon-emitting technologies, it will be too late."

Science skeptics who diminish and discount scientific findings are a "worrisome trend," said Robert Socolow, a member of the BAS Science and Security Board.

"The world needs the political leadership to affirm the primacy of science or problems will be far worse than they are today, said Socolow, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and co-principal investigator with the Carbon Mitigation Initiative at Princeton University.

He and the other BAS representatives at the news conference expressed concern that, in Krauss' words, "politics trumps science" at a time when elections are coming up in the United States, Russia and France and new leadership is soon to take over in China.

Founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first U.S. atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 using the imagery of apocalypse - midnight - and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion - countdown to zero - to convey threats to humanity and the planet.

While the group is opposed to nuclear weapons, it neither endorses or does not endorse nuclear power. It maintains that nuclear power must be safe and if done well could help with climate change.

The decision to move the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin's Board of Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates.

Jayantha Dhanapala is a member of the BAS Board of Sponsors, a former United Nations under-secretary-general for Disarmament Affairs (1998-2003), and ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States (1995-1997).

"The world still has over 19,000 nuclear weapons, enough power to destroy the world's inhabitants several times over," he warned today.

"Despite the promise of a new spirit of international cooperation, and reductions in tensions between the United States and Russia, the Science and Security Board believes that the path toward a world free of nuclear weapons is not at all clear, and leadership is failing," he said.

As a positive signal, Dhanapala pointed to the ratification in December 2010 of the New START treaty between Russia and the United States which reversed the previous drift in US-Russia nuclear relations.

"However," warned Dhanapala, "failure to act" on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by leaders in the United States, China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, and North Korea "continues to leave the world at risk from continued development of nuclear weapons."

"Obstacles to a world free of nuclear weapons remain," agreed Socolow. "Among these are disagreements between the United States and Russia about the utility and purposes of missile defense, as well as insufficient transparency, planning, and cooperation among the nine nuclear weapons states to support a continuing drawdown."

"The resulting distrust leads nearly all nuclear weapons states to hedge their bets by modernizing their nuclear arsenals," Socolow warned. "Such developments appear to other states to be signs of substantial military build-ups."

There are positive signs amidst the challenges, particularly the engagement of people in determining their own future, the group emphasized.

"The Science and Security Board is heartened by the Arab Spring, the Occupy movements, political protests in Russia, and by the actions of ordinary citizens in Japan as they call for fair treatment and attention to their needs," said Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Executive Director Kennette Benedict.

"Whether meeting the challenges of nuclear power, or mitigating the suffering from human-caused global warming, or preventing catastrophic nuclear conflict in a volatile world, the power of people is essential," Benedict said. "For this reason, we ask other scientists and experts to join us in engaging ordinary citizens. Together, we can present the most significant questions to policymakers and industry leaders. Most importantly, we can demand answers and action."

Oakland Raiders fire coach Hue Jackson after one season | NFL

By The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Reggie McKenzie made clear on his first day as Raiders general manager there is a new regime in Oakland.

Soon after signing his contract to be the first general manager since longtime owner Al Davis' death, McKenzie fired coach Hue Jackson.

"There comes a time when change is necessary," former Oakland linebacker McKenzie, 48, said Tuesday. "For the Raiders, the time is now.

"The Raiders' organization, with respect and deference for all its tradition and history, is about to embark on a new era."

The era will begin without Jackson, 46, who was fired after going 8-8 in his first season as coach. McKenzie wanted to bring in his "own guy" to rebuild the organization.

Owner Mark Davis said McKenzie will decide on the new coach and the personnel decisions, with the coach reporting to the general manager.

Davis' father, Al, died of heart failure Oct. 8. Mark Davis said it is imperative the team gets a new stadium; he has had discussions with groups in Los Angeles about possibly returning the franchise to Southern California.

"The timetable is yesterday. So that's where it is. We've got to get a stadium," Davis said. "We've got to get that done. It's such a competitive business. It really is competitive. We can't compete for a lot of the players that other teams can, at times."

League commissioner Roger Goodell has said there will be no relocations to Los Angeles in 2012, but he hasn't ruled out one after that. The Raiders played in Southern California from 1982 to 1994.

Mularkey leaves Falcons for Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey as coach, a move they hope will help improve the league's worst offense.

The Florida Times-Union first reported the hire.

Mularkey's Falcons were shut down in a 24-2 wild-card playoff loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. But his long relationship with Jaguars general manager Gene Smith made him a front-runner from the beginning of the search.

Mularkey, 50, was 14-18 as Buffalo's coach; he was fired after the 2005 season. The Jaguars finished 5-11 this season; they fired coach Jack Del Rio in November after a 3-8 start.

Notes

• Veteran receiver Derrick Mason has decided to retire after 15 seasons and pursue a career in broadcasting.

Mason, 37, was a two-time Pro Bowl selection. He caught 943 passes for 12,061 yards and 66 touchdowns in his career. He spent the first eight seasons with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and played six seasons for the Baltimore Ravens before being cut last summer.

Mason caught 19 passes for 170 yards this season with the New York Jets and Houston. The Texans released him last month.

• Police have recovered the body of Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin's son from an icy Wisconsin river and said they were trying to figure out how he died.

Michael T. Philbin, 21, disappeared early Sunday and was reported missing that night. His body was recovered from the Fox River by divers Monday. Oshkosh Police Chief Scott Greuel waited a day to release the name out of respect for the family's privacy.

"We love Michael so much and will miss him dearly," Joe Philbin said in statement released by the team. "He loved his family, friends and life. His memory will live on in the hearts and minds of all who knew him."

News of Philbin's death comes as the Packers prepare to host the New York Giants in an NFC playoff game Sunday. It was unclear whether Joe Philbin will continue to work with the team this week.

Hobbies: Handmade lotion bars make great gifts

BY CATHIE FILIAN / Scripps Howard News Service

Handmade lotion bars feel amazing on chapped hands and help heal those little cracks, dry spots and rough edges. Handmade lotion bars are a perfect gift for a crafter, gardener or anyone with dry hands. They feel amazing on chapped hands and help heal those little cracks, dry spots and rough edges.

Lotion bars look similar to a bar of soap but are made of solidified lotion. To use the bar, you just rub the bar into your hands (without water). Next, rub your hands together to smooth the lotion into the dry skin. Within minutes your hands will begin to feel softer.

This recipe is boutique quality without the price tag. Once you have gathered your supplies and dive into the making, you will be surprised at how many bars you can make.

Similar types of bars sell for as much as $20 at bath-and-body shops. Most of the supplies can be picked up at craft and hobby shops. Online retailers can be a huge source for supplies and essential oils. I personally like thesage.com for bases and scents.

For this design I used a rectangular soap mold, but you can use any shape you desire. You can even make this recipe and pour it into a small jar or pot.

Jazz up homemade lotion bars with personalized packaging. Zip-type baggies adorned with custom stickers is a quick way to package them. Adorned travel soapboxes are good containers for people who are on the go. Lotion bars can be wrapped with kraft paper and twine for a natural look. Cello bags lined with parchment paper and tied with a bow is another quick and easy gift-wrap idea.

Supplies: Glass measuring cup

Small saucepan

Popsicle stick for stirring

3 tablespoons beeswax pellets

2 tablespoons regular cocoa butter

3 tablespoons shea butter

2 tablespoons sweet almond oil

2 tablespoons calendula oil

1/4 teaspoon vitamin E acetate

Essential oil -- optional

Soap bar mold

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a very clean glass measuring cup. Place inside a large pot. Fill the sides of the pot halfway up with water to create a double boiler.

2. Heat on medium and stir until all the ingredients (except the essential oil) are blended. This should take a minute or two.

3. Remove from heat and add a few drops of essential oil for scent if desired. Only add a few drops at a time until your desired scent is reached.

4. Pour into a mold and allow to cool on a cookie rack for about 30 minutes. Pop the bar out of the mold. The bar should feel firm when properly cooled.

5. To package as a gift, wrap in a cello bag and tie or staple on a handmade gift tag, silk flower and a decorative ribbon.

When Your Hobby Becomes a Business

Written By Susan Schreter,FOXBusiness

Q: I am planning to retire next year and want to pursue my canoe-making hobby as a business. My wife is against it thinks I don’t know enough about what can go wrong. What should I know before I startup?

A: There is a media image of entrepreneurship that seems to favor the work of eager, 20-something innovators. Overlooked in the story are semi-retired, second-career entrepreneurs who have finally earned the opportunity to work on projects that carry greater creative satisfaction than their former salaried jobs.

The reason I used the phrase “earned the right” is because their 30 or 40 years of salaried service have bought them some savings and other forms of retirement income to help pay the bills while they pursue new entrepreneurial endeavors.

I know a lot of younger people who can’t start new businesses because they don’t have any other source of living while the business works toward a profit. You and your wife do which reduces some of the more stressful aspects of startup entrepreneurship. Your use of the word "hobby" caught my eye. There are a few words and types of business operations that tend to attract the attention of IRS agents. A hobby-oriented business is one of them.

If the IRS rules your sideline business is more of a hobby than a legitimate business, then it will take away certain business deductions and offsets to other income. IRS targets tend to include home-based animal breeders, collectible traders, and artists.

The best way to avoid IRS attention is to report a profit – preferably in any three of five consecutive years, plus: -If you ever speak with an IRS agent, avoid the word "hobby" in your discussions. Keep the word off of Web sites as well. -Prepare a business plan that clearly demonstrates the objective of making a profit. All new businesses should have a business plan. -Open a business checking account to process income and expenses. -Prepare financial statements throughout the year to demonstrate ongoing attention to business results. Your business should be more than a spring-time tally of tax deductions.

Just because the IRS may look at the viability of business deductions doesn’t mean that you should not take every legitimate tax deduction you can. According to the IRS’ most recent Statistical Oversight Institute data for 2009, the audit rate for all personal tax returns is 2%. If you can legitimately save $500, $1,000 or $5,000 in annual tax obligations by keeping good records and maybe even taking a home-office deduction, then do it. At 2% of all personal tax returns filed in the U.S., the odds are overwhelmingly on your side that you won’t be audited. However, the chances of an audit increase further if the tax return (single or joint filing) reports gross income over $100,000.

At last you are in an enviable position to channel all your mature wisdom, management skills and observations about customer needs into a lucrative business. Best of all, you and your wife will own all the financial benefits of your hard work. Challenge yourself to put as little hard cash into your startup as possible to maximize your potential equity reward.

Susan Schreter is a 20-year veteran of the venture finance community and small business policy advocate. Her educational work is dedicated to improving startup longevity and operating performance in rural, urban and suburban America. She is the founder of www.takecommand.org, a community service organization that offers the largest centralized database of startup and small business funding sources in the U.S.

Honda Announces Overview of Display for the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011

Tokyo, Nov 10, 2011 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- Seven Next-Generation Electromotive Honda Motor Co. Ltd announced its lineup of production and concept-model automobiles, motorcycles, power products, and other highlights for its display at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011, which will take place at Tokyo Big Sight from Saturday, December 3 through Sunday, December 11, 2011.

At this motor show, with the booth concept of "What makes people feel good?" Honda will propose an exciting and thrilling mobility life of the future that it envisions as a company providing personal mobility to people all around the world. The display will include a lineup of the next-generation electromotive concept models including two-, three- and four-wheeled commuter vehicles designed for easy and fun mobility in future cities, mid-to-long distance commuters designed to enrich life and enhance the freedom and fun of mobility, and sporty models that pursue the joy of driving/riding.

Furthermore, at the automobile section, N Concept, a new mini-vehicle series that emphasizes the creation of ample space, will be showcased, including introduction of the first production model in the series, N BOX. At the motorcycle section, a variety of models will be on display, including planned production models such as NC700S, INTEGRA and NC700X, which will be equipped with Honda's newly-developed global 700cc motorcycle engine. Also on display will be the planned production model of the CRF250L which offers both an ease of use in everyday life and the fun of off-road riding. Covering the largest floor area of any single brand at the show, the Honda booth will showcase a diverse lineup of products unique to Honda.

As a part of "SMART MOBILITY CITY 2011", a themed project the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) will hold at the motor show venue, Honda will showcase the FCX Clarity advanced fuel cell electric vehicle, EV-neo electric scooter, EV-MONPAL electric cart, as well as the Honda Smart Home System which features several Honda-developed energy production technologies, including a gas engine cogeneration unit and a solar powered system to reduce household and mobility CO2 emissions. The progress Honda has been making in testing program of these technologies also will be showcased.

Since the establishment of the company, Honda's goal has been to make people happy through its technologies and through the creation of products that are useful in people's daily lives. Driven by these dreams and passion, Honda has been committed to the research and development of mobility which focuses on people. With a passion to create and deliver mobility filled with fun and good feelings for people, Honda's challenge as a manufacturer of mobility products will continue into the future.

Electromotive concept models Automobiles AC-X: A next-generation plug-in hybrid vehicle which offers a more comfortable and enjoyable time in the vehicle during all driving situations, from urban to long-distance driving. With the choices of an "engine drive mode" for more aggressive driving or an "automatic drive mode" for more relaxed driving, the vehicle broadens the joy of mobility.

MICRO COMMUTER CONCEPT: A micro-sized, futuristic, electric city commuter which will become a highly accessible form of mobility for more people. This vehicle will offer the joy of a new type of communications between people and mobility and an exterior that the owner can enjoy customizing more casually. The collaboration of Honda's motorcycle and automobile R&D centers made it possible to load the MOTOR COMPO two-wheel EV commuter in this vehicle.

SMALL SPORTS EV CONCEPT (tentative name): A next-generation EV sports model which maximizes the fun of driving while achieving excellent environmental performance.

Motorcycles MOTOR COMPO: A compact EV commuter which offers the casual and convenient mobility of a two-wheeler, but also strives to be useful even when it is not being ridden. This model can be loaded in the MICRO COMMUTER CONCEPT, with the battery that drives this commuter detachable and designed to be used as a power source in everyday life.

E-CANOPY: A quiet and comfortable next-generation commuter developed by installing an EV system on Honda's unique three-wheeled scooter. In addition to personal use, this vehicle can be utilized for business use such as a delivery service by adopting a rear trunk which can be built-in.

RC-E: An EV version of a super sports bike that pursues the joy of riding. A powerful and smooth ride unique to an EV model is achieved with the 250cc-class compact body.

Power products TOWNWALKER: Urban mobility which pursues simplicity and nimbleness that enables anyone to enjoy mobility in urban areas more casually. It can easily be loaded on a car by folding away the steering and seat.