Safety Tips Reminder

Tis the season to be safe. So take a few minutes and review these safety tips. The first set of tips came via email. Nothing new is said, but sometimes, a reminder is good to think about.

-------Safety Tips Everyone Should Know

Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or love one's life

In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation...

This is for you and for you to share with your wife, your children, everyone you know. After reading these 10 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do:

The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide:

If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.
Toss it away from you. Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.
RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.
The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit(doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.) DON'T DO THIS!

The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.

AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door.

Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle,
and the passenger side... If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. (This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, preferably in a zig -zag pattern!

8. Most women, are sympathetic: STOP! It may get you raped, or killed.

Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point:
Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door..' The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

10. Water scam!
If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full ball so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.

Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors!

This should probably be taken seriously because the Crying Baby Theory was mentioned on America's Most Wanted when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.


------Don't Let Yourself Get Hooked by Phishing Sites

(NAPSI)-Many people know that phishing, or luring Internet users to illegitimate Web sites in an attempt to obtain personal information, is becoming more widespread and more sophisticated. Learning how to identify these scams and phishing Web sites may keep you from becoming a victim.

Statistics from a recent survey commissioned by VeriSign reveal that 88 percent of U.S. Web surfers are unable to identify various forms of phishing Web sites from authentic sites they emulate in a side-by-side comparison. The survey, which was also conducted in Germany, Sweden, Australia, India, Denmark and the United Kingdom, shows that U.S. Internet users were least likely to identify the telltale signs of a phishing site.

Internet users who cannot identify phishing sites may be more likely to give up personal and financial information online, making them extremely vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.

"Whether you are shopping online or using a social networking site, it is important to protect yourself on the Internet," said Tim Callan of VeriSign. "There are simple measures that will secure your financial and personal data from phishing scams and online fraud."

Consumer education is crucial in combating this nationwide issue. Luckily, there are easy-to-spot indicators that can help consumers identify phishing sites and stay safe online. Internet users should watch for the following when banking, shopping and interacting online:

https:// in the URL: The "s" in https:// means the site is encrypted, so the information you enter is secured. While some phishing sites do have a secured Web address, many do not. Therefore, site visitors should be on the lookout for missing security on sites that should have it.

Trust marks: Simple visual cues in the form of popular logos can show that a Web site is authenticated and secured, and that a company is reputable.

The Web address: Be suspicious of any site with an unknown domain that contains the name of a well-known site in the latter part of the Web address.

Green address bar: This signifies that a site has undergone extensive identity authentication so that you can be confident it is the site it claims to be.

Internet users can apply the above tips and test their knowledge by taking the "Phish or No Phish Challenge" at www.phish-no-phish.com.

For more information about how to stay secure online, visit www.trustthecheck.com.

NY Supreme Court Could Decide to Protect Free Speech or Not

Another day, another story about the potential future of free speech. Keep an eye on this court's decision. Whichever way it goes could impact you.

Fashion Model's Application to Unmask Anonymous Blogger Threatens First Amendment Protections for Online Comments

/PRNewswire/ -- A pending application to the New York Supreme Court seeks to force Google to divulge the identity of an anonymous blogger because of a few comments made on the Internet on one single day. The application brings to the fore the need to ensure that First Amendment free-speech protections continue to extend to anonymous web-based commentary.

A hearing on the motion to reveal the anonymous blogger's identity is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25th. The petitioner, fashion model Liskula Cohen, alleges that references to her as a "skank" and "ho" on the website "Skanks in NYC" constitutes actionable libel under New York law and on that ground seeks to unmask the anonymous blogger.

"Despite its seemingly petty underpinnings, this case carries serious implications," says Debra J. Guzov, co-founder of Guzov Ofsink, LLC, which is defending the anonymous blogger. "We strongly believe that if the plaintiff were to succeed in her efforts, it would move toward the erosion of our basic constitutional right to anonymous free speech."

Anonymity and the Internet

The Cohen proceeding could potentially have a chilling effect on anonymous commentary made all over the Internet. "Ideas are exchanged freely on the Internet in large part because participants can speak using assumed names or no name at all," says Ms. Guzov. She adds that anonymity not only encourages democratic discourse and allows dissenters from majority opinion to share their minority views, but it also provides vital protection from the fear of political, economic or even physical retribution for espousing those views.

"The Internet has become the predominant forum in modern society for the free exchange of ideas and opinions, however absurd, profane, insulting or rhetorical," says Anne W. Salisbury, a Guzov Ofsink attorney who specializes in First Amendment cases. "We do not have to condone everything people say on the Internet, but we must respect their right to say it."

Courts all over the country have already ruled that words such as "skank," "pimp," "tramp" and "douchebag" are not defamatory, especially in the context of blogs and other online commentary. "Context matters," Ms. Guzov notes. "Indeed, in this particular case, no reasonable person visiting a web site entitled 'Skanks in NYC' would expect to find assertions of verifiable facts."