Think Your Car is Safe from Thieves Think Again – Auto
Think Your Car is Safe from Thieves Think Again
ARA Content
ARA - Every time you park your car, youre taking a risk.
Just ask David J. of Stanford, Conn., whose 1998 high-performance Acura Integra Type R was stolen right under his nose just one month after he installed a top-of-the-line security system for $1,500.
Mothers Day is a long-held tradition of revering the woman who gives the gift of life.
"Mothering Sunday" is another early Mothers Day tradition that has shaped the way we celebrate our mothers today. This English holiday dates back to the 1600s, and involved young servants who pampered their mothers with fine delicacies. While we continue to celebrate the mother figure in modern America, it is most often with traditional gifts of flowers and cards. But if Mothers Day is indeed about the most personal sentiment and respect for a mother, a gift of gratitude should warm their hearts forever.
car was tire tracks in the newly fallen snow.
"They found it three weeks later, stripped clean," he added.
Davids experience is not unusual, says James Cooper, CEO of Ultimate Security Systems Corporation of Irvine, Calif. Despite manufacturers claims to the contrary, most security systems are easy to overpower and hardly even slow down a professional thief, said Cooper, whose firm created and markets the PowerLock anti-theft system.
Every 25 seconds
The National Insurance Crime Bureau www.nicb.org reports that 1.1 million vehicles are stolen nationwide each year. Thats one vehicle every 25 seconds in what has become a $7.5 billion-a-year-industry, according to the Insurance Information Institute www.iii.org, a trade organization. Its an industry, moreover, dominated by organized auto-theft rings that steal cars to fill contract orders. And no wonder: A $20,000 stolen vehicle can be stripped and sold into $30,000 worth of parts, insurers say.
Your car doesnt have to be a high-performance vehicle like David Js to be an attractive target for a thief with a list of parts, or with orders for a particular make and model of a car. Different models of the popular Toyota Camry and Honda Accord swept eight of the top 10 list of cars reported stolen in 2000, according to an annual study conducted by CCC Information Services Inc., a Chicago-based supplier of software and communications systems to auto insurers. Chevrolet and Ford pickups captured the
High-income Earners Consider Renting Chic Again – Real Estate
High-income Earners Consider Renting Chic Again
Dan The Roommate Man
Over the past two years, households that earned $50,000 or more annually and had the means to join the ranks of home owners or continue owning the roofs over their heads represented the fastest growing segment of the rental market, according to the National Multi-Housing Council.
"These are people who could have bought but choose not to," NMHCs Kim Duty reported at the National Association of Real Estate Editors annual conference late last month in New Orleans. "Their older, more affluent and better educated, but they choose renting for the lifestyle, not economic reasons."
As Duty sees it, "the pendulum is swinging back" to the early 1900s when apartment living was considered chic. "Changing demographics, evolving lifestyles, new public policy initiatives and changes in the apartment industry are all working together to increase apartment demand," she told the meeting.
Over the next decade, according to NMHCs research, the two fastest growing age groups are two of the most likely to select apartment housing people in their mid 20s and empty-nesters in their 50s.
After more than 20 years of declining numbers, the population in the traditional renting years age 20-29 is expected to increase by 11 percent over the next decade. During the same period, moreover, the number of people in the 45 to 74-year-old age bracket will swell by 20 million, and these are folks who exhibit a much greater proclivity to rent than the counterparts in previous generations.
Duty, the apartment groups vice president of communications, also said the fastest growing portion of newly formed households going forward will be childless couples, singles living alone and unrelated households, all of whom have a higher propensity to rent than to buy.
She cited "three key reasons" these and other households choose to rent:
A desire for hassle-free living People want to simplify their lives by shortening their commutes, shedding household-related chores and living closer to entertainment, restaurants and shopping.
Financial incentives Many households want the ability to pick up and move from one job and/or place to another at will without incurring the costs of buying a new place and selling the old one, "financial penalties" few purchasers consider. Others opt to rent so they can invest their money in the stock market as opposed to their homes.
Superior amenities The evolving apartment sector now offers a package of services and features that cannot be replicated in a single-family house, at least not affordably. These include high-speed internet access, security, built-in social opportunities, on-site concierge, fitness centers business centers and even movie theaters.
In addition, Duty said, many of todays apartments "look and feel more like single-family homes. They are larger, and they include finishes such as attached garages, built-in, pre-wired entertainment centers, private alarm systems, granite counter tops, oversized whirlpool tubs, gas fireplaces and more."
The NMHC also believes the 1997 Tax Act tilted the rent-versus-buy decision in favor of apartments. Now that the first $250,000 of capital gains $500,000 for married couples filing jointly is tax-free, more home owners are able to consider renting without being encumbered by a huge tax liability.
Indeed, the groups analysis indicates that apartment demand could increase by as much as 10 percent over the next several years due to this change in the tax law alone.
On the supply side, meanwhile, new interest in smart growth and infill development is "making it easier to get new apartment construction approved," Duty said, maintaining that apartments utilize existing infrastructure more efficiently that detached housing.
"Urban areas also realize that the lifestyle rental market is a key market to target in trying to recruit middle and upper-income households to return downtown," the industry spokesperson added.
Finally, in contrast to mom-and-pop apartment owners of yesteryear, most of todays landlords are large firms that are invested in the long-haul, not short-term tax benefits. And as a result, they have made obtaining and retaining residents "a highly professional endeavor."
About The Author
Since 1989 Dan The Roommate Man has helped 1000s of people find roommates. Need help Contact him at 800-487-8050 or www.roommateexpress.com
info@roommateexpress.com
Man Shortage, Again – Women
Man Shortage, Again
Regena English
In the last two weeks Ive read articles crying the age old desperate woman battle cry, "there are no marriageable men". This has to be the most ridiculous assumption women has ever bought lock, stock, and barrel.
Theres no shortage of men, just ask those women who are happy single. The more desperate and needy a woman is the more shell act as a repellent to what she thinks she want, a marriage seeking man. Ive read how education could be a barrier for men interested in matrimony undereducation of either the man or woman limits potential mates, somewhere Ive seen birth rates of male children as another possible reason. Not once had anyone ask the question to all these women who claim theres a shortage of men could they be the obstacle to marriage and not the male population
"Its funny how women who are happily single have no shortage of men in their lives and marriage desperate women complain of a man shortage." Joie
Somewhere in all this disparity over finding husbands women continue to fight illusions negative illusions might I add over being single, especially if theyre past the age of 35. "I cant be happy without a man." They could learn a thing or two from their peers who are secure in themselves and have a healthy attitude in regards to being single. These secure women recognizes how marriage could add new dimensions to their lives but they dont rely on it as a "be all end all" for happiness. Its these women who are quick to tell others there are no shortages of men wanting marriage, no just a shortage of women willing to allow themselves happiness not based on marital status.
"I personally dont buy the eligible man shortage baloney. Being unhappy and desperate for love is a barrier to marriage not some man shortage." Denise
"The man shortage is created by women by being unhappy as they currently are. Women need to understand they must be happy to attract happy. What man want the burden of spending their lives trying to make some unhappy woman happy, he would have to be crazy to sign up for that job." Leiza
About The Author
The above quotes are from women asked if there was a man shortage.
Regena English, the editor of The Leather Spinsters Newsletter for happily unmarried careerwomen and ActiveWear for Single Women Clothing. http://www.leatherspinsters.com
renglis1@aol.com