• Should I apply with the Dealership or with an Online Lender? Many consumers are looking online to secure their financing today. Not only are they usually able to get better terms on the loan than they would rep from a dealer, but they are able to keep their personal data private. When you apply for a loan at a dealership that information on your credit application floats around from desk to desk putting you at risk of identity theft.

• How mighty should I apply for? You should apply for an amount greater than what you think you will need in order to give yourself some flexibility. If you get your next car loan from an online lender, you can include the sales designate of your vehicle, any taxes, licensing, registration, credit insurance, extended warranty/service contracts, and any other fees less the value of your trade in and/or down payment.

• Are there any hidden fees to the Borrower? If you resolve to go online, you have the flexibility to apply and upon approval, receive a free, no-obligation quote so you can choose the car loan that is right for you.

• How soon after approval can I get my car? With many online lenders, you will receive a loan decision almost immediately. That means you can purchase your vehicle in most cases that very same day.

• Are there vehicle limitations? Most lenders have limitations to the type of collateral you can buy. Nearly all will limit the age of the vehicle and the mileage they will finance. Be sure to check online with your lender for specific details.

• How long is my online approval good for? With most online lenders, your approval is good for 30 days. That means you have the luxury to shop and find the best stamp on your next vehicle.

There are many things to assume when deciding on your next auto loan. You can find more frequently asked questions and apply for an online car loan at OpenRoad Lending.

About the Author: Chris Goodman has been in the auto finance business for more than 20 years and has assisted thousands of consumers with their car loan needs. His articles are insightful and assist consumers in understanding the ins and outs of auto finance. OpenRoad Lending is an online lender with a consumer friendly website providing auto financing solutions to consumers in the process of purchasing a new or used vehicle or refinancing their existing auto. Visit the website at http://www.openroadlending.com for more information about how easy it is to get a car loan.

Because not all states behold gay marriages, same sex unions, domestic partnerships, or common law spouses, you must be very specific and document everything throughout the entire process of obtaining your car insurance policy. When you meet with an insurance agent lay all your cards on the table and find out how the following scenarios will impact your coverage and premiums.

Can my same sex domestic partner/spouse/common law spouse/partner be covered as my spouse on my policy?

Can my same sex legal marriage from an area where it is legal and recognized by law mean that I can put my spouse on my coverage as my spouse, even if the state I reside in does not recognize same sex marriages?

If this is a nationwide insurance company do they have a standard policy in regards to same sex couples and insurance? If so I need a copy of it.

Does my same sex spouse have to be a covered driver and not be covered as my spouse?

Can my spouse be the beneficiary on the policy automatically or do I have to designate them with additional paperwork?

Single gay Americans don’t face quite the same battles because sexual orientation isn’t a quiz that is asked when requesting an insurance quote for an individual, but you will tranquil want to ask if you have to specifically designate a beneficiary.

Ask for a copy of any quotes and guarantees prior to leaving. Don’t retract a policy at that time. Find out how long the quote is good for. Investigate the company on the internet. Does this company have any pending litigation for gay related issues? Have they previously been prejudicial to gays? Use this information to help steer you to a company that is going to take care of you when you need it.

Get several quotes from different companies following the advice above and expend all the information gathered to make the most informed decision possible in regards to your insurance policy.

Resources:

http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/pr/geico-car-insurance-recognize-gay-marriage-couples.html

Here is what you need

You must meet all of the requirements for a Texas driver’s license including identification requirements, vehicle registration and insurance requirements, passing written, driving and vision examinations and consenting to being photographed and fingerprinted.

Identification

You must meet the identification requirements of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).The Texas DMV accepts three types of identification: Well-known, Secondary and Supporting Identification. You may need to provide one or more pieces of identification including your recent driver’s license, social security card, birth certificate, military ID or passport. There are many other documents that can be used as identification and are defined on the Texas DMV Identification Requirements webpage.

Proof of Eligibility

You will need a signed (front and back) copy of the Texas Department of Public Safety Veterans Disability Certification Form DL49. It is available online or at any Texas DMV office. This form can be taken to any VA office for signature that can verify your VA status and award level. You should take your VA award letter with you to the DMV with the Disability Certification Form. Although it is not actually required, it is supporting documentation and supporting identification.

Texas Veteran’s Commission

The state of Texas offers many benefits to military veterans and disabled veterans. These benefits are not always easily found, as they are not part of the Department of Veteran Affairs. The Texas Veterans Commission was founded in 1927 to assist Texas Veterans, their families and their survivors in obtaining both VA benefits and region benefits they have earned through their service to their country.

References/Resources

Texas Veterans Commission

Texas Department of Public Safety

Farmers in 22 counties will need emergency loans as the drought has caused them to lose 30 percent or more of their major crops this season.

The Pennsylvania State Emergency Board announced at a meeting that the federal government would need to be called upon to help the farmers suffering from the drought.

Governor Rendell said of the situation, “Producers are struggling to maintain profitable businesses because of drought and severe storms that have hit the commonwealth. It’s important that we help our farmers recover from these extreme losses to protect their livelihoods and our agricultural industry.”

Through the Governor’s constant requests, Pennsylvania farmers will be able to apply for low-interest federal loans. The funds will help pay for flood, frost, hail, and drought damage.

The Governor added, “These emergency loans will help farmers recover from damages until gash insurance is able to assess their claims. I have asked Secretary Johanns to act quickly.”

Aside from receiving the federal loan to help with cleave damage, farmers with crop insurance can use a new USDA decision regarding sample strips of the damaged crops.

Before this decision came, the USDA had to send out loss adjusters to each of the affect farmers and inspect the afflict in person. They would then have to tell the farmer to leave sample strips. Now, during the harvest seasons, farmers can receive information and permission via phone. The farmers also must contact their crop insurance agent to sigh about damage losses before they commence harvesting again.

Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said, “By giving permission for sample strips over the phone, the claims process will be much faster. Being able to harvest their crops more quickly will help to ease the burden of drought on farmers.”

Wolff also noted that sample strips should be at least 10 feet wide and a length determined by the loss adjuster, depending on field acreage.

In addition, there is also more wonderful news. Farmers who bought crop revenue insurance before March 15th of last year will be promised at least $4 a bushel this spring.

1. Will you assign money?

The biggest reason for switching auto insurance providers is saving money. If you aren’t getting a better deal (or at least the same deal), you might as well stay where you are. Unless you are switching because of bad customer service or poor communication, make clear your wallet is getting a break.

2. Are there fees involved?

Sometimes, short rate fees may apply for early cancellation. This means that you execute a policy in the middle of a term.

Check your policy documents to see if fees apply. If they do, wait until the novel policy period ends before switching auto insurance providers.

3. Have you explored all options?

The only thing worse than switching auto insurance providers once is doing it over and over again. Before you obtain the switch, look around and evaluate several companies to see which offer the best deals. Conducting research in reach will make the process so grand more smooth.

4. Can you bundle insurance products?

Switching auto insurance providers is a spacious idea if you’re combining policies under one provider. Make insurance companies offer discounts for customers who expend them for several different products, such as auto, homeowner’s, renter’s, life and health insurance.

5. Are you changing coverage?

Before switching auto insurance providers, catch all your ducks in a row. For example, if you plan to buy a current car in the next few months, wait until the prefer to switch companies. The same is true if you’re planning on dropping or adding endorsements. Might as well get all the paperwork over with at once.

6. What is the new company’s reputation?

Don’t rely solely on a rate quote when switching auto insurance providers. Do your research, from reading reviews online to checking the Better Business Bureau. Know that company inside and out to make sure it’s a good idea to switch.

Making the Switch

If you’re ready to switch auto insurance providers, do it the right way. Car insurance can be confusing if you don’t know the terminology or the types of coverage available, so go ahead and familiarize yourself with the industry.

Talk with your agent to determine what type of coverage you might need and to make sure you can take advantage of any discounts available.

Source:

Insurance.com

The pack mentality among news gatherers persists despite frequent, eloquent criticism. No one likes pack journalism, and few would admit to practicing it. Pack journalism leaves the news-hungry public misinformed or poorly informed about important developments in their communities and around the world, since “the news of the day is concerned with trivia.”

The mammoth resources of media empires concentrate on whether mature President Clinton had an extra-marital affair, or worry that a telegenic 6-year-old Cuban boy in the country illegally could be sent home to his father. While these stories deserve coverage, it’s hard to see how the public is served by providing up-to-the-second minutiae on subjects of itsy-bitsy consequence to most viewers while ignoring big-picture issues that affect everyone’s lives.

One somewhat valid argument holds that it’s not the public being served by commercial media – it’s the media owners, who count on readers and viewers drawn by these broadly appealing, tantalizing stories to boost profits. While the practice works out well for them, the problem of pack journalism goes deeper. The very structure of American-style “objective” journalism leaves the press open to pack tendencies. Furthermore, these tendencies are easily exploited by special interests, meaning that the public can not only be misinformed, but misinformed in line with a definite agenda.

The evidence, and definite peril, of this conformist reporting has been evident for some time. Well-received books like Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail 1972 and The Boys on the Bus documented the hazards of conglomerate reporting – yet, despite the revelations, and the obvious injure to the public and the press, little has been done. It bears repeating, then, exactly how herd journalism happens, and how it disserves public discourse.

News organizations often follow the lead of others, and it’s getting worse as the number of media outlets increase. “Ironically … increased competition and the instantaneous nature of television have served to exacerbate the pack-journalism phenomenon,” one critique states. “In their attempt to steal the latest and most conclusive information, reporters often put their own spin on what other publications and broadcasts have deemed newsworthy. When reporters rely on previous accounts of an event, misinformation and inaccuracies abound.” This is how the Oklahoma City bombing came to be prematurely, and wrongly, blamed on Middle Eastern terrorists. Richard Jewell can relate – the media pack convicted the security guard of placing a bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution went to press with a story naming him a suspect.

Other examples are less sensational, but no less alarming. The journalistic treatment of Hmong refugees who came to the United States after the Vietnam War showed a more subtle pack movement. “Journalists seized excitedly on a tag that is still trotted out at regular intervals: ‘the most obsolete refugee group in America,’” writes Anne Fadiman, who spent several years studying and interacting with the Hmong. “Typical phrases from newspaper and magazine stories in the late seventies and eighties included ‘low-caste hill tribe,’ ‘Stone Age,’ ‘emerging from the mists of time,’ ‘like Alice falling down a rabbit hole.’” In fact, Fadiman writes, the Hmong have a very sophisticated, intricately woven culture that journalists apparently were too busy to investigate.

By following the lead of their Hmong-bashing peers, including the New York Times, instead of independently pursuing an just legend, these reports mischaracterized the Hmong, contributed to misunderstandings and even violence between Americans and refugees, and failed journalism’s basic mission – to inform, accurately.

Hunter S. Thompson chronicled a similar debacle in Hell’s Angels: A Peculiar and Abominable Saga, which illuminates how the national media can turn into a monolithic pack when a juicy story comes along. In 1965, the state of California released a recount on the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang. While based on shaky numbers and heavily biased sources, the report also made “a clanging good item for the national press,” Thompson wrote. “There was plenty of mad action, senseless destruction, orgies, brawls, perversions and a unfamiliar parade of innocent victims that, even on paper and in careful police language, was enough to tax the credulity of the dullest police reporter.”

It was so out of bounds that Angels members “shuddered with perverse laughter at the swill that had been written about them.” Even so, the national press had a field day. It started with a “lengthy and lurid” New York Times recap of the report, followed by prominent pieces by Time and Newsweek. “And by the time the dust had settled, the national news media had a guaranteed grabber on their hands,” Thompson said. “It was sex, violence, crime, craziness and filth – all in one package.” The media then devoted a lot of time and ink to promoting the Hell’s Angels as public enemy No. 1, whipping towns everywhere into a paranoid frenzy at the plan of an approaching motorcycle entourage. An objective examination of the incidents in the report and the gang members themselves, however, “makes the Angels look like a bunch of petty jack-rollers.” The media looked like idiots, or tabloid opportunists.

Pack reporting can spread misinformation even when reporters write about mainstream issues, as was the case during the early 1990s debate on health care reform. One proposal, managed competition, came to dominate the debate, even though health care professionals had widely divergent opinions on how best to improve access to health insurance and medical care. “Thanks in part to the editorial pages of The New York Times, managed competition has been elevated from a theory hatched by insurance executives, physicians and academics … to the leading contrivance for health care reform,” lamented Trudy Lieberman in Columbia Journalism Review.

This happened largely because of “competitive pressures” that force reporters “to succumb to the bane of Washington journalism – mimicking the coverage in The Original York Times and The Washington Post.” When one of these papers published a scoop on the health care debate, often something leaked to inspect how a certain proposal might fare politically, it “put gargantuan pressure on other reporters to write similar stories,” Lieberman wrote.

The health care debate showed how these pack tendencies can be made to assist a certain agenda. Since then-President Clinton had promised a health care plan within 100 days, and the panel met in secret, reporters went crazy trying to tell the story of an imploding policy initiative:

“The secrecy, the 100-day deadline, the on-again-off-again decision making of the task force, and the sense that a big plan was about to explode, sent the press on a frantic search for leaks, scoops, and front-page headlines. Those same ingredients worked to manipulate reporters. The task force resorted to an age-old Washington trick – releasing trial balloons to favored journalists as a way of gauging how this proposal or that would fly with movers and shakers in health care. … ‘[New York Times reporter] Robert Pear got leaks, got documents, got scoops, and the Times set the agenda for the next day’s coverage,’ says one reporter.”

The public, however, did not receive as wide a range of information as it should have. The story became one of health care legislation, not health care, and an important policy initiative fell by the wayside.

The manipulation happens because media organizations, instead of pursuing independent lines of inquiry, “stumble over each other to cover the perceived story of the moment. … From the 1900s to the 1990s, most members of the print and electronic media have decided to follow rather than lead. It’s safer that way.” This tendency has been well documented in the coverage of presidential campaigns, when news organizations seemingly go all out to make sure they have the same legend as everyone else.

In The Boys on the Bus, for example, Timothy Crouse chronicles a typical day on the 1972 George McGovern campaign and how reporters swallowed the day’s “easy” story – a unique poll showing McGovern ahead of his primary opponent, Hubert Humphrey, by 20 points. Despite spending months with the candidate, he writes, “the reporters had gained no fresh insights into George McGovern; they had not gone of their way to inspect for any.” They did not ask questions about the large sums of cash pouring into his campaign, or whether political realities were tempting him to abandon some of his cherished stances. Crouse quotes one reporter’s lament: “I’d be willing to bet that on the night he got the nomination we hadn’t told anybody in the United States who the hell we were talking about, what kind of man he was.”

Reporters were equally negligent when covering Richard Nixon that year. Nixon effectively stage-managed his campaign, speaking only to screened television audiences while feeding the traveling press bits and pieces designed to meet their daily needs without actually opening the candidate to questioning. Though reporters protested at times, they did not want to play into the “liberal bias” stereotype Nixon and his vice president, Spiro Agnew, had successfully planted in the public mind. Instead, the reporters wrote stories about subjects like “the new Agnew”:

“Convenience was the order of the week. Agnew gave the press that treasured gift, the easy hook. In his meetings with reporters he was sufficiently wintry and low key that they could go off and happily file portraits on the New Agnew. It was an obvious, inevitable and comfortable story, and nearly everybody on board was pleased to write it.”

Meanwhile, Nixon made “demonstrably false” statements about McGovern’s programs that went unchallenged in the press, with the exception of a CBS news report by Cassie Makin – and she caught a lot of heat from Nixon’s campaign and her fellow reporters for attractive Nixon in that way. The problem, Crouse said, is that “political journalists … often work as a herd when they should act as individuals, and they claim their right to perform as individuals when they should close ranks and act as a group.” When Nixon limited access, for example, they should have demanded, en masse, regular contact with the president; and when the campaign disseminated information to all, each reporter would do more good by striking out in an independent direction instead of following the lead of Nixon staffers, the national press and the wire services.

Pack tendencies also can be manipulated by journalists with an axe to grind. Columnist Robert Novak launched an offensive in 1995 against Sheila Burke, the chief of staff for then-Sen. Robert Dole. Though she’d worked for Dole for nearly 20 years, through other, losing presidential campaigns, when Dole became the GOP front-runner for the 1996 elections “conservative critics … decided that Burke [was] leading her boss down the slippery slope of moderation.” (Prior to joining the senator’s office, she’d been a nurse and a liberal Democrat.) Mundy of MediaWeek continued her account:

“Novak’s column listed several charges, including allegations by an anonymous senator that ‘she has offended just about everybody in the religious right.’ He also suggested there was a groundswell among conservatives nationally against Burke. This is a routine ploy, but Novak has the clout to pull it off beautifully. There was no anti-Burke groundswell.”

Novak didn’t want Dole to succeed, Mundy said, so he started a campaign against a former staffer the candidate needed. Another columnist didn’t like the way Burke limited his access to Dole, so he jumped on the bandwagon. Novak’s column provoked a sigh campaign against her, critical Wall Street Journal editorials and stories, and negative accounts in The Washington Post, Time, and the Associated Press. Other reporters felt compelled to follow the lead of the “heavyweight” news organizations – indeed, Mundy wrote, Novak could not have pulled off his stunt without “the media, that obedient pack”:

“The anti-Burke groundswell didn’t exist until Novak said it did. Reporters were mandated to find such a groundswell by their editors (once they’d stopped asking, ‘Sheila who? ‘). GOP pols and pundits then steered reporters to predetermined sources who parroted the ‘groundswell’ argument, which then became its hold news. It’s a tried-and-true Washington routine: You start the riot, then you cover it.”

It’s alarming to note how easily the media can be sent after someone, if a tidbit is juicy enough. Several commentaries on press behavior note that special interests and politicians often know more about how the press will react than reporters do. One doesn’t even have to make McCarthy-esque accusations of an opponent to get the pack’s attention. All it takes are a few well-placed, sort-of-plausible rumors that the media would like to be true, and it becomes damaging news when the subject of the rumors is forced to deny them. For example, “Michael Dukakis suffered under coverage of a nonexistent psychiatric problem, and the press circulated unsubstantiated allegations of Richard Nixon’s and George Bush’s extramarital affairs.” Thompson offered a particularly harmful anecdote – perhaps apocryphal – about an early Texas campaign by Lyndon Johnson, a notoriously nasty politician. It shows exactly how the media’s role in destruction-by-rumor can work:

“The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows. ‘Christ, we can’t bag away with calling him a pig-fucker,’ the campaign manager protested. ‘Nobody’s going to occupy a thing like that.’ ‘I know,’ Johnson replied. ‘But let’s make the sonofabitch enlighten it.’”

Given this rumor-mongering, and the documented missteps of the mainstream national press, it’s amazing that anyone would want to follow its lead. Still, any controversial development finds followers. Recently, for example, reporters took to using the word “quagmire” to describe U.S. military action in Afghanistan and trotted out endless – and speculatively premature – comparisons to Vietnam, columnist John Leo noted mockingly. It started with an Associated Press article and spread to The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Miami Herald and other substantial papers. “At press conferences, reporters asked quagmire questions of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. When they did, of course, they got answers keeping the word quagmire in play,” Leo said. Then, quoting a Slate.com columnist, he continued: “The reason that criticisms and skepticism about the war bubble around D.C. ‘is that reporters raise and repeat them in a self-escalating cycle.’ Some quagmires are composed known to occur in the real world. But others are created and sustained in the newsroom.” Such wild-goose chases damage press credibility at a time when trust is more principal than ever.

Rolling Stone also has harshly lampooned the press. For instance, in 2000 the magazine sent novelist David Foster Wallace to follow John McCain’s presidential campaign for a week. In an introductory share, he explains “Twelve Monkeys,” campaign bus slang for the heavy hitting journalists along for the ride:

“The 12M are a dozen marquee journalists and political-analysis guys from the really important papers and weeklies and news services, and tend to be so totally identical in dress and demeanor as to be almost surreal – twelve immaculate and wrinkle-free navy-blue blazers, half-Windsored ties, pleated chinos, oxford-cloth shirts that even when the jackets come off stay 100% buttoned at the collar and sleeves, Cole Haan loafers, and tortoiseshell specs they love to consume off and nibble the arm of, plus always a uniform self-seriousness that reminds you of every overachieving dweeb you ever wanted to kick the ass of in school. The Twelve Monkeys never smoke or drink, and always move in a pack …”

Later, Wallace delights in recounting the “vapid and obvious” questioning of McCain and aide Mike Murphy by members of the Twelve Monkey clan.

“MONKEY: If, say, you get here in South Carolina, what do you do then?
MURPHY: Flit to Michigan that night.
… MONKEY: I mean can you explain why specifically Michigan?
MURPHY: It’s the next primary.
MONKEY: I think what we’re trying to get you to elaborate on, Mike, is: what will your goal be in Michigan?
MURPHY: To get a whole lot of votes. It’s part of our secret strategy for winning the nomination.”

Why the cream of the national media would need to use days and weeks cooped up on a bus, riding with a candidate at great expense to their employers and their health, for such inane interviews is hard to fathom. Yet every four years they pile on buses and planes to do just that, even though the horserace coverage that often emerges does little to inform public debate while reinforcing pack tendencies.

Thomas Patterson explores the results of that coverage in his comprehensive tome, Out of Order. While much press criticism makes the media out to be stupid, inactive or liberally biased, Patterson’s thoughtful examination probes more deeply. He concludes that pack reporting problems result from the structure of the newsgathering process. Citing another study, Patterson holds that “if the news confers advantage or disadvantage on any candidate, it does so primarily because of the inherent biases of [journalism] as a distinctive form of discourse.”

This bias is based on the journalistic preoccupation with “objectivity” and the perception that campaigns, and legislative issues in general, are about political advantage and getting elected, not ideas. “…[T]he press has an antipolitics bias, which contributes to news that is harshly critical of those who seek the presidency,” Patterson writes. This “deep skepticism” exists within the framework of a “story-driven news process” – that is, reporters portray the campaign or legislation as part of a narrative, either “leading, or trailing, or gaining ground, or losing ground.” He continues: “As the situation changes, so does the story line, and with it the news image in which to press envelops a candidate. What is said of the candidate must fit the plot.”

For example, Presidents Bush and Carter, when seeking re-election in 1992 and 1980, respectively, faced the hurdle of being incumbent presidents when the economy had soured. “The prevailing story line was an incumbent president whose re-election bid was in exertion. This news theme was unfavorable, and so, therefore, were the ‘facts’ that reporters worn to support it,” Patterson writes. These facts were culled from economic indicator reports, foreign policy developments, the success or failure of the incumbent’s legislative agenda – all objective measures that reporters could use to assess how well the candidate was playing the game of getting elected. Patterson concludes that this approach is inadequate, however, because it results in wildly fluctuating portraits of the candidates, many of whom end up being portrayed as bumbling nincompoops at one point and thoughtful statesmen at another, depending on their standing in the polls. “If journalists were describing candidates ‘as they really are,’ their portrayals would not swing abruptly when the candidates’ fortunes change,” Patterson states. As with the Hmong, an inaccurate portrayal equals a failure of journalism’s basic mission.

Pack journalism not only spreads these varying portrayals as reporters react similarly to developments, it also reinforces whatever this prevailing plan happens to be. “When reporters speak with one protest their judgments may seem accurate, but are no more true because of it,” Patterson writes. The problems with pack reporting raised by Patterson go beyond repeating misinformation or being manipulated to further an agenda. In his view, these tendencies skew the reality perceived by the public. There was a time when political party loyalties or other community ties provided a balance to the media’s image-making power, but with the erosion of those institutions in modern times, the press’ power has “become sufficiently pronounced to case major exertion.” He continues:

“Journalistic bias would be a minor concern if the press’ stories were inconsequential. They could be dismissed as engrossing diversions in a melodrama that is much too long anyway. But these stories sometimes have spacious effects … we have no alternative version of reality to compare or replace it with, so dependent are we on the press for our mental pictures of what is going on in the campaign, and so authoritative is the press in its pronouncements.”

Washington Post columnist Joel Achenbach noted this “media image” phenomenon in his time spent covering the 2000 elections. “You discover what the candidates say, and what the news media say the candidates are saying, is not what the ordinary people believe the candidates are saying. What survives the process of repeated translations is the general vibe of a campaign, the spirit. People think one guy’s a straight shooter, one guy’s a weenie.” Many, he says, base their votes – and, by extension, their opinions on public policy matters – on this “vibe,” not information.

Crouse also notes the connection between traditional, objective journalism and pack reporting, and in one section of The Boys on the Bus lets journalist Brit Hume gain his point for him:

“[Reporters] shouldn’t try to be unbiased, they should try to be honest. Their so-called objectivity is impartial a guise for superficiality. … They never get around to finding out if the guy is telling the truth. They just pass the speeches along without trying to confirm the substance of what the candidates are saying. What they pass off as objectivity is just a mindless kind of neutrality.”

The critique contains a suggestion for fixing the problem – close slaving away at being “unprejudiced.” Break the formulas that call for stories to make one elegant point based on a specific, often staged event, a point that has to fit into the imposed news narrative. It’s a call for reporters to pick on more freedom and responsibility – freedom to report events as they see them, with the added responsibility of ferreting out whole pieces of information instead of chronicling sound bites, accusations and denials. This is a tall and risky order; Crouse noted that the reporters who tried to break molds were isolated by the campaign handlers and vilified by their peers. The pressure to go along with the system, as well as fatigue from bucking it and getting nowhere, works against change, he says. Any reforms must be planned and implemented en masse, yet from his account, the odds of that happening are next to nothing. This is one case of reporters acting as individuals when they should disappear as a group, either by boycotting worthless press conferences, not writing about the manufactured news hooks, or refusing to spread unsubstantiated but damaging gossip, no matter how titillating.

News organizations could be more thoughtful about how news is defined, and remain consistent about following that definition. What’s “unique” is not always “news,” but in the effort to attract viewers and readers, media organizations engage in an endless search for tidbits that can be reported breathlessly. “[Political scientist Larry Sabato] and other media critics worry that significant, systematic scandals sometimes go unreported while the pack devotes ruthless energy to some more fashionable story of the moment,” writer Susan Crabtree noted. What if political reportage involved fanning out across the country to evaluate ideas and programs instead of tagging along to every campaign event? What if news organizations wrote about indispensable issues because they are important, not because someone introduced a piece of legislation or called a press conference? “It’s time to approach up with a new definition of what news is and throw away the old stereotypes,” writes Joe Saltzman. “Breaking news stories always will get good coverage. It is the rest of the news that needs redefining. Perhaps the police-blotter, man-bites-dog type of story should be put on the back burner, and those that genuinely influence the consumer’s life be given primary wretchedness.”

Patterson urges an even more radical overhaul of the system, at least as far as political coverage goes. He says the press cannot play the candidate-winnowing role that has been thrust upon it; the duty must be returned to the political party.

“No reform of the press can equip it for this mediating role. This is not to say that the press cannot improve its campaign coverage. It should sight more fully how some of its tendencies distort the campaign. Must the candidates’ small mistakes be among the major news stories of the campaign? Must the first primary or caucus be inflated beyond all reason? Must bad news so completely overwhelm good? ”

He also suggests shortening the campaign, which could force reporters away from the horse-race reach and toward the more thoughtful, in-depth, issues-oriented stories that are neglected.

The represent of the press that emerged from this review is not pretty. While hard working and conscientious about their work, reporters build a herd too easily. The goal of objectivity mostly reduces journalists to the role of stenographer, chronicling what this person or that person said. Evaluating those statements is not allowed, even though that’s what is most sorely needed. Media organizations also follow one another instead of striking out in independent directions, making it even easier for manipulation to take region. Though unsafe, news organizations would serve their craft and the public better by going their own device to pursue topics, not people; the big picture, not news hooks and sound bites. It’s a harder, more labor-intensive road rooted not in live remote broadcasts and hourly Internet updates but in research, expertise and current sense. If taken, the media could be transformed from a hard-charging pack or a docile herd into a group of individuals speaking for the pleasurable of democracy.

SOURCES

Achenbach, Joel. It Looks Like a President, Only Smaller: Trailing Campaign 2000. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.

Crabtree, Susan. “Pack Journalism Produces Political Tales of Woe.” Insight on the News, Feb. 26, 1996, pg. 12.

Crouse, Timothy. The Boys on the Bus. New York: Random House, 1973.

Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.

Leo, John. “Quagmire, Schmagmire.” U.S. News and World Report, Nov. 26, 2001, pg. 52.

Lieberman, Trudy. “Covering Health Care Reform, Round One: How One Paper Stole the Debate.” Columbia Journalism Review, Sept.-Oct. 1993, pg. 33.

Mundy, Alicia. “Time Out at the Times.” Media Week, April 24, 2000.

Mundy, Alicia. “The Recent Attack on Dole’s Chief of Staff Exemplifies What’s Wrong with Washington Media.” Media Week, July 31, 1995, pg. 15.

Patterson, Thomas. Out of Order. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1993.

Saltzman, Joe. “News Must Be More Than Sex and Violence.” USA Today Magazine, March 1993, pg. 83.

Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72. Current York: Warner Books Inc., 1983.

Thompson, Hunter S. Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. New York: Ballantine Books, 1967.

Wallace, David Foster. “The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys and the Shrub: Seven Days in the Life of the Late, Tremendous John McCain.” Rolling Stone, April 13, 2000, pg. 53.

Take a Motorcycle Safety Course

Just because you know how to ride a motorcycle doesn't mean you cannot benefit from taking a motorcycle safety course. Consider it a refresher to remind you of some safety features. Once you pass, take your certificate to your insurance agent and ask for a discount on your motorcycle insurance.

Join a Motorcycle Club or Organization

The American Motorcycle Association offers discounts on many things, including motel stays, rental cars and motorcycling events. Your insurance company may offer you a discount for being a fraction of this organization. Being a member of the AMA will also befriend you locate motorcycling events and motorcycle safety courses, and it will keep you up-to-date on motorcycle laws.

Review Your Motorcycle Insurance Policy

Have you checked your deductibles and medical insurance coverage since you purchased the policy? If you have had your motorcycle for several years, you may want to consider raising the deductible or even changing the collision amounts. Insurance companies also allow you to place driver exclusions on your policy.

If you have a younger driver in your household, or someone that doesn't have a good driving record, your motorcycle insurance may be higher just because they live with you. Putting an exclusion on your insurance for this person states that they will not be driving the motorcycle. This could lower your insurance premium.

Medical coverage on a motorcycle policy is expensive. If you have medical coverage at your place of employment, seize any medical coverage from your motorcycle policy. This means that if you have an accident and need medical attention, your health care policy will pay the bills, not your motorcycle insurance.

Consider What Type of Motorcycle You are Purchasing

Before you occupy a new or used motorcycle, check with your current insurance company to compare rates. Some motorcycles, such as sport bikes, will cost more to insure. Older, cruiser-type motorcycles will cost less. Sport bikes have a reputation as being racing bikes while cruisers are more for street riding.

You may not be able to afford the insurance on a brand new sport motorcycle, no matter how badly you want it. If you are determined to have one, choose a used sport bike. You will save a substantial amount on motorcycle insurance.

Sources:

American Motorcycle Association

Insurance Web

Bank Rate

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First, depending on the seriousness of the incident, try and locate a policeman to come to the scene a write an accident report. In some cases, the policeman may give you a copy right at the scene, if not then you may have to go the status in order to receive a copy.

The police officer will speak to both you and the other driver and write down statements from both parties. If you are severely injured than it may be best to go to the Emergency Room. If your car is drivable and you are not severely injured then as soon as the officer is through with the recount you may be free to go on your way.

Most important, as soon as you get home call and report the accident to your insurance company. It is critical to report to the accident as soon as possible to avoid any delay in receiving proper coverage for your loss and injuries. Most insurance companies have rules about the amount of time in which an accident should be reported. Failure to comply with the insurance company rules and regulations may result in a delay in paying your claim.

When you contact your insurance carrier, create sure you have a copy of your insurance card, your vehicle registration number, your license number, license plate number, and a complete description of the details of your accident. Your insurance representative may or may not ask you specific details about the other driver, if not they will seek to procure that information at a later time.

If you sustained injury, your claims representative should mail you an insurance coverage card with a policy and claims number pertaining to your accident. You should present this card every time you see a physician or health care specialist. In most states, after the drive meets their deductible due to an accident, the insurance company should pay everything but 20% of the claim. Customer is responsible for deductible plus 20% of any bills.

Many insurance companies try to settle claims as soon as possible; it is to their benefit. However, if you have a complex case, which may involve an attorney, then it will take much longer. The insurance adjuster will be the person who will ultimately decide how much your accident or claim is worth. Settlement claims depend upon injuries sustained as a result of the accident.

If you are ever keen in a “hit & run” accident and the other driver flees the scene, try to derive as much information as you can about the other driver. The license plate number and description of the other vehicle would be the best kind of information. If keen in this type of accident, it may be wise to seek the help of a estimable personal injury attorney.

The personal injury attorney will handle all reporting of claims and any other information pertaining to vehicle damage or personal injury. Insurance companies can be a headache to deal with and the attorney will handle all of those details himself.

However, if you chose to report the claim yourself, you should receive a packet of papers after speaking with the claims specialist. Make sure you fill out all papers completely, you may have to have a notary public to stamp and trace certain pages. The insurance company is normally pretty quick in sending out this package, usually within 24-48 hours.

It is important to keep in mind that insurance companies are not concerned about you the customer, they are concerned about following procedure and settling your claim as quickly as possible. Insurance companies are in the business to make money not give it away. However, there are obvious rules and regulations the insurance company must follow when a customer reports an accident. All insurance companies are regulated and must meet their obligation to each customer eager in an accident. If you feel the insurance company didn’t follow proper procedure you may contact The National Association of Insurance Commissioners to file a complaint.

Several dealers that sell RV campers will provide some sort of financing There might be a unique rate the dealer can get simply because of having a higher volume of loans via a particular financial institution You should certainly take these loans into consideration when shopping for a finance corporation You will, even so, require to stay on the lookout for unexpected fees These may perhaps contain extended warranties or loan insurance You do not have to consist of these and can say no to these additional fees If the finance manager tries to push them on you, get up and walk out This normally helps them understand you are not there to be taken benefit of It is also achievable that if you sell or trade in the RV camper just before the loan is paid off, there might be penalties Read the paperwork prior to you sign anything.An additional possibility is your personal bank or credit union If you are an established customer, they may well be able to give you lower interest rates when financing your RV camper These kinds of loans do not usually have any sort of early payoff penalties They also do not need loan insurance But, it will depend on the policies of your bank or credit union Once more, read the paperwork prior to signing.Costs for RV campers have a pretty wide range They can cost as small as $5,000 or less for a fundamental fold-up trailer They can also cost $500,000 or extra for a luxurious Class C motorhome And, there are a number of RV campers that fall somewhere within this range The cost of your RV will depend on numerous variables.The size of your RV camper has a significant impact on the price They can range from 12 to 35 feet in length The longer your RV camper is, the higher the price will be.There are some manufacturers that develop RV campers for the luxury market These builders will use greater grades of carpet, wood work, and other items in the campers These RV campers will hold their value longer and depreciate slower They will also be extra durable and last a lot longer.Some RV campers will have slideouts These add extra living space to the camper They will also add additional construction costs and there will be added weight and electronics The added electronics are required for the mechanisms that are employed to slide the additional room out from the principal body of the RV camper The far more slideouts there are, the higher the price of the RV camper will be.There are also several grades of appliances that can be built into the RV campers Logically, the much better the appliances, the higher the total price will be You could possibly determine you want the much better appliances But, if you will be performing a lot of cooking outdoors, you may not require the fancy stove or the higher price that comes with it.Purchasing an RV is like purchasing a vehicle It pays to shop around It also pays to know what you want just before you go into the dealer Or you could even buy an RV camper from a factory Where ever you decide on to make your buy, hopefully, these ideas will support you make a great bargain that you can afford.SOURCEEure, Marian 2005 The Every thing Family Guide to RV Travel & Campgrounds Adams Media Avon, MA USA .

Does Your Business Need Commercial Car Insurance?

Owning a business comes with a lot of responsibility, both in running the operation and protecting yourself from liability. Not all businesses require commercial car insurances. Online or work from home companies generally do not require commercial insurance, as they are lower in risk when it comes to car damages and traffic accidents. Construction companies however should always carry commercial car insurance, due to higher risk of property damage, employee accidents and vehicle repairs. Companies that require extensive travel should carry commercial car insurance, as their employees are at greater risk of incidents or vehicle wound.

What Companies Offer Commercial Car Insurance?

Most insurance companies offer personal and commercial car insurance. Certain companies offer multiple policy option, such as home, personal and commercial insurance that can be combined for money saving discounts. Commercial car insurance will cover business vehicles, and those required for business operations. Therefore, a business owner would also require private car insurance for those vehicles driven for personal use only.

There are insurance companies that specialize in specific industry, such as construction. These insurance companies can cover business vehicles, employees and also other company assets such as forklifts. It would be up to the business owner to decide whether they would occupy an insurance policy that is specific to their work industry.

What All Does Commercial Car Insurance Cover?

The coverage of your commercial car insurance policy can be fitted to your specific needs. The general policy will cover physical damage to the vehicle. A business vehicle is seen as an asset, and also depreciates in business tax returns. The coverage of your commercial policy can also cloak the diminished resale value if the vehicle has been in an accident, or requires extensive damage repair that will always be available to new buyers as part of vehicle history.

It will also cover bodily injury, and cover liability claims. The bodily injury coverage will be available to employees driving the vehicle for business purposes. In case of a claim, an employee may be required to take a drug test in order for the insurance company to cover financial responsibilities.

Theft is always a possibility, for both personal and business vehicles. Commercial policies mask theft, or any damage done to vehicles as a result of theft. Other options of commercial policies are paying off the entire amount of an auto loan in case of theft, even if the business vehicle may not be worth as distinguished as the remainder of the auto loan.

Cost of Commercial Car Insurance

A commercial policy will cost more than private insurance, however the coverage is a necessity for businesses with employees and vehicles used for business purposes. The coverage received will take financial responsibility from the business owner in case of hurt claims or bodily injuries. For a business, a commercial car insurance payment will be another tax deduction, but also a priceless peace of mind.