| Editor's mailbag: Stop drunks from having more babies affected by FAS
This is in reference to the article "FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) impact lasts a lifetime" in the Dec. 30 Sunday edition. Perhaps someone can explain to me why we allow alcoholics and druggies to give birth to several babies.One only has to read about Justin Scott, who was born with a .237 blood alcohol level, who cannot speak and whose mobility and eyesight are limited, not to mention all the other unfair disabilities he lives with, to question why his mother, who was an advanced alcoholic, was allowed to bring him into this world.The article tells us that "Justin was her third child born with effects from her drinking. Justin's older sister would end up in a mental health facility. His other sibling ended up in the care of his mother's family."According to the article, Justin's biological mother was "living in a tent near the Alaska Native Medical Center when she went into labor and a fellow homeless person told her to go to the nearby hospital.
8 ways to insure your home insurance
Hurricane Katrina swept away all the old rules about homeowner's insurance. These days, filing a single small claim, switching insurers to save a few bucks, or assuming your coverage hasn't changed can expose you to huge financial hardships. A study released this week by the Consumer Federation of America supports what many homeowners have been feeling over the past several years: We're paying a lot more to protect our homes and getting a lot less in return. It's more important than ever to check up on your coverage, so here are eight defensive moves to keep you adequately covered and cut costs. Appraise your coverage
Surveys show that more than half of U.S. homes are underinsured by an average of 22%. Coverage based on generic formulas ($65 to $150 per square foot) won't cut it if you've renovated or failed to account for rising building costs.
50 WAYS TO MAKE YOURSELF RICHER
Mortgage payment protection insurance or MPPI provides short-term cover for loan payments, in the event that you lose your job or are unable to work due to accident or illness. MPPI is nearly always optional so you should not be refused credit if you don't want the insurance. If you can live with the risk, then do so: anyone with high levels of savings, a low risk of unemployment, good sickness cover or redundancy terms from their employer, or who already has income protection insurance will find it a waste of money, especially if you have dependants. If you do need MPPI make sure you shop around, as policies sold by mortgage lenders are often the most expensive, typically costing between £5 and £6 a month to cover £100 of monthly mortgage repayments. Buying standard stand-alone MPPI can cut this to as little as £3.70, saving someone with £900 of monthly mortgage repayments almost £250 a year.
Depression-era stories offer lessons from the past
The Great Depression of the 1930s may well qualify as the toughest time in U.S. history. The stock market crashed on Oct. 24, 1929. Banks collapsed. Factories closed. Homeowners and farmers faced foreclosure. By 1933, a quarter of workers were unemployed.
Unemployment and foreclosures are eerily familiar themes in Michigan today. But today�s struggle is a blip compared to the tough times in the 1930s, said David Wheelock, economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis.
�Nothing we�ve had since the Great Depression is anywhere close to being as bad,� he said. .
Elections 2008: With shows like these, forget reruns
Election 2008 is a breakaway hit. January was supposed to be the month when the writers' strike took its toll, subjecting viewers to a menu of desiccated repeats and cheesy reality shows. Instead, the primary season is serving as the backdrop for one of the most compelling runs of event television in years, creating the kind of chatter network marketers would kill for and spectacular ratings for cable news. When's "Grey's Anatomy" coming back? Who cares? Much of this election's appeal has nothing to do with the lack of alternatives. History hangs near — both a former first lady and a competitively viable candidate who happens to be black are in the thick of things — and the narrative has delivered a surprise around every bend. It's not just the Democrats drawing viewers.
Bureaus adopt new formulas
Credit bureaus are expected to adopt a new version of the widely used FICO credit score this year that will no longer benefit so-called ''authorized users'' on another person's credit card account. It's common for parents to add a child as an authorized user on their credit card to boost the child's credit score. That benefit will no longer exist under a new scoring model by Fair Isaac Corp., the company that developed the FICO score. You can still be an authorized user, but Fair Isaac will no longer factor authorized-user accounts into its credit-scoring formulas. The move is in response to the controversial practice of ''piggybacking'' in which some Web sites allow consumers with poor credit scores to hitch on to someone else's good credit record.
Local reaction to training bomb dropped in Va. Beach
She says she didn't hear the training bomb land, but did notice the jets were louder today and seemed to be flying a bit lower. The Navy says earlier in the day, the F/A-18C Hornet was conducting a training mission at the Navy's Dare County, North Carolina Bombing Range. A former A-6 intruder pilot familiar with these types of training missions says, "It's almost unheard of. There's various things that can happen at intervals ranging from error in the cockpit to mechanical malfunction on the airplane."
The former pilot described how the training bomb, which often releases a small plume of smoke when it lands, works. "It's harmless and it's only so you can see the location of where the bomb hits. It's for target practice basically."
The Virginia Beach warehouse was obviously not the Navy's intended target. Now it's investigating what caused the training bomb to accidentally drop.
|
