New Year's Eve Safety Tips

New Years Eve is a huge night for everyone, which means crowds will be swarming toward all the metropolitan hubs around the world. People feed off each others' excitement, and sometimes things can get out of hand if safety precautions are not taken. Everyone wants to have an unforgettable night (in a good way!). By simply using some common sense, we can keep it that way. Ring in the New Year safely!

Gap Insurance and Your Leased Car

You Have Good Car Lease Insurance but Did You Check on Gap Insurance?

So you have decided to lease your car or may already have a leased car. You made sure you purchased the correct car lease insurance and your leasing insurance covers everything right? Unfortunately not.

Northeast Blizzard of December 27, 2010

Thousands of travelers trying to get home after the holiday weekend sat bored and bleary-eyed in airports and shivered aboard stuck buses and subway trains Monday, stranded by a blizzard that slammed the Northeast with more than 2 feet of snow.

Automobile Accidents Can Be Costly

Automobile accidents can be costly:

• Payment of deductibles for collision losses
• Driving incidents that adversely affect loss history and MVRs, impacting future premiums
• Lost productivity when individuals deal with aftermath of accidents such as police reports and potential law suits.  Vehicles spend time in repair shops, rather than on the road

Happy Holidays!

In warm appreciation of our association,

we extend our Best Wishes for a

New State Law Makes Part-Time Domestic Help Eligible for Disability Benefits

A change in state law that just took effect  requires some households to provide disability benefits for domestic workers. The law extends a number of protections to domestic workers, including minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, the right to at least one day of rest per week, coverage under the anti-discrimination law and collective bargaining rights. One provision changes the state disability benefits law to cover domestic workers working less than 40 hours per week for the same employer. However, this coverage does not apply to every employee who works for a household. 

Long Island Gas Prices Among Highest in Nation

Just in time for the holidays, the average gasoline price jumped another 7.7 cents in the past week on Long Island - to the highest average price since October 2008 and one of the highest nationally.

School Rules

Send your kids -- whatever their grade -- off to class with these safety tips.

They've skipped off to elementary school, raced off to high school or zoomed off to college. If you didn't take a moment to discuss safety basics and smart life choices before they left, there's still time. Use this easy guide to make sure your child is prepared.

Assume The Position

At present, there are 385 full-body scanners located at 68 airports nationwide, with more on the way.  Will all the additional x-ray exposure lead to an increase in skin cancer?  Wait a few years and find out.

Here’s a list of U.S. Airports currently using full-body scanners:

Christmas Tree Fire Video: It just takes a minute

Watch this incredible video of how fast a Christmas tree fire can start and then fully engulf a room. In less than a minute, a dry tree can create a tragedy. To reduce the risk of fire, practice Christmas tree safety and be sure to water your tree every day and position it away from sources of heat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS8rFLq0NDE&feature=player_embedded

Z100's Annual Jingle Ball

Last Friday, December 10, 2010,  was the radio station Z100`s annual winter concert. The name of the concert was Jingleball and took place at Madison Square Garden.

Happy Birthday, Walt Disney

On December 5^th  the 109^th birthday of Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was celebrated. He will always be remembered for the start of the wonderful Disney franchise that is still present today. This brand continues to prosper daily with many additions to the parks and brand. Within the past year Disney has put out many films that topped the box office including Toy Story Three and Alice In Wonderful. There was also many other advancements in Disney channel like new shows including Fish Hooks and Shake It Up. Disney has been around for an extremely long time and will still continue to advance and build up the Disney name. ~ contributed by Sandra Costanzo, Social Media Intern

Holiday Fire Safety: Commit a Minute

It is easy to think that a home fire would never happen to your family, but there are more potential risks around your home than you may think – especially during the winter months. Fires grow so quickly that it can take just seconds for a spark to fill a room with toxic smoke. A recent study showed that within three seconds of ignition, a dry scotch pine is completely ablaze; within 40 seconds, a flashover occurs that engulfs the entire room and releases dense, deadly, toxic smoke.

Successful Holiday Entertaining

If you’re hosting a holiday party this year, you are responsible for the safety and comfort of your guests. Keep your celebration festive by making sure sidewalks are clear of ice and snow. Serve alcohol responsibly and offer plenty of food, soda and “mocktails.” Also, provide a designated driver for guests who have been drinking. To add peace of mind to your holiday joy, talk to your agent about an umbrella policy to make sure you are covered if a loss occurs. Following these simple guidelines will make your party a smashing success!

MOCK CHAMPAGNE
• 2 liters Apple Cider or Apple Juice
• 2 liters Ginger Ale
• Grenadine Syrup (optional)
Pour apple cider and ginger ale into a punch
bowl. Add enough grenadine to make a light pink
color. Serve with ice cubes in each glass. Serves 16-20

Social Networks' Threat To Security

Social networks are designed to facilitate sharing of personal information, and the more data a person discloses, the more valuable he or she is to the service. Unfortunately, these sites have poor track records for security controls. They don't encourage users to select strong passwords, and passwords on these sites never expire. This wouldn't be a problem if people only used these passwords for their social lives, but it's a safe bet that many reuse the same weak passwords--or versions of them--for all of their accounts, including at work.

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