The Highway Loss Data Institute of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released it’s annual list of cars and trucks with the highest claim rates per 1,000 units for theft, covering vehicles that are 1 to 3 years old. If you own one of these, you may want to invest in a good alarm, or let your dog sleep in it.

#5 Chevrolet Avalanche
Chevy’s real-life transformer – the cabin can be opened up to extend the pickup bed inside – may not be the company’s best seller, with only 16,000 sold in 2009, but it’s popular among the sticky fingers crowd with 7.4 per thousand getting ripped-off.

Source: Chevrolet

#4 Dodge Charger
If you were a criminal is there anything else you would drive? The Charger was designed to look menacing, and claims are made on 7.4 per 1,000 of them, while models with the high-performance HEMI V8 engine rank 7th on this list with 7.1 per 1,000. No surprise, it makes a great getaway car. Unfortunately, law enforcement has figured this out, which is why Dodge also makes a police version.

Source: Dodge

#3 Chevrolet Silverado
Just take a look around, the Silverado is one of the most common vehicles on the road. Theft claims are made on 8 out of every 1,000 of the crew cab models. That’s a lot of crime.

Source: Chevrolet

#2 Ford F250 Crew Cab 4X4
You’ve almost got to give someone credit for trying to steal a monster like the heavy duty Ford F250, unfortunately, a lot of people are successful doing it.

Source: Ford

#1 Cadillac Escalade
The Cadillac Escalade almost single-handedly defined the world bling, as applied to automobiles, so it’s no surprise its at the top of this list. Claims are made on no less than 10 of these for every 1,000 on the road, with an average payout of $11,934. And that’s with standard engine immobilizers. According to the HDLI’s Senior Vice President, Kim Hazelbaker,”thieves can still put them on flatbeds and haul them away.”

Makes you wonder how many of those are stolen each year.

Source: Cadillac

A national transportation group released a report this week estimating a driver in North Carolina’s two largest urban areas loses $1,350 a year because of lost time and gasoline costs sitting in traffic, car repairs and accidents where roadway design likely contributed to a wreck.

The study by the Washington-based nonprofit group TRIP, based largely on federal highway and traffic safety data, may reinvigorate the discussion state transportation boosters want to persuade the Legislature to approve new ways to raise road construction funds.

The state estimated years ago it had a $65 billion funding gap through 2030 between projected transportation needs and the current funding sources to pay for them.

“North Carolina is falling behind in maintaining its major roads, bridges and highways and the state lacks adequate funding with numerous projects that would greatly enhance economic development in the state,” TRIP executive director Will Wilkins said.

The $838 million in federal stimulus money for ready-to-build roads and bridges only provides short-term assistance for North Carolina, where population is expected to grow by one-third to 12 million and vehicle travel by 45 percent by 2030.

“The bottom line is our needs are growing in North Carolina. Our revenue stream is not,” state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said at a Raleigh news conference where he agreed with the findings. “We need to continue to work hard and do more with less, but I don’t think at the end of the day that’s going to get the job done.”

The group TRIP said the costs above and beyond normal driving and maintenance for Charlotte drivers ($1,351 a year) and Raleigh-Durham ($1,350) area drivers are essentially the same, while drivers in Greensboro and Winston-Salem on average face $901 in expenses because there’s less congestion in the Triad.

Statewide, congested and deteriorating roads and those that lack improved safety features cost drivers $5.7 billion, according to the TRIP report. North Carolina has the second largest state-maintained highway system but ranks fourth-lowest in the nation for per-mile capital spending on those roads.

There are more than six million drivers in North Carolina. Wilkins discouraged calculating a statewide driver average because congestion figures were available only in the three metro areas.

Charlotte-area motorists spend 40 hours a year in traffic, compared to 25 hours in 1997. The average rush-hour trip is now 25 percent longer in Charlotte and 17 percent longer in the Raleigh-Durham area compared to a non-rush hour trip, the report said.

The calculation of the three regions is based on the per-driver cost for congestion, additional vehicle costs for driving on poor or mediocre roads and the economic costs of accidents.

A state blue-ribbon transportation commission recommended in 2008 raising the tax on car sales, raising vehicle registration fees and even charging motorists for every mile recorded on a vehicle’s odometer as a way to make up for a state gasoline tax eroding as people drive less and with more fuel-efficient cars.

Lawmakers approved last year the commission’s idea to expand to all 100 counties the option to raise local sales taxes for public transportation projects, but otherwise the “Legislature hasn’t really had the courage to enact many of these suggestions,” said Tom Crosby with the AAA Carolinas Motor Club.

Wilkins urged Congress to reauthorize the law setting out federal transportation funding to provide more road-funding stability, since federal revenues pay for about one-fourth of North Carolina’s road projects.

By Gary D. Robertson
March 26, 2010

In late December, congress approved an increase of $290 billion, which had allowed the government to borrow funds until February. And, while the Senate has approved legislation to increase it the limit $1.9 trillion to $14.3 trillion, a ceiling that high would be equivalent to about $45,000 for every American.

This news comes amid reports from the Obama Administration that this year’s deficit will reach $1.56 trillion, or 10.6 percent of the economy — the highest percentage since World War II.

Health :
1.       Drink plenty of water.
2.       Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3.       Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4.       Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5.       Make time to pray.
6.       Play more games
7.       Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8.       Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9.       Sleep for 7 hours.
10.    Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality :
11.    Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12.    Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13.    Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
14.    Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15.    Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16.    Dream more while you are awake
17.    Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18.    Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19.    Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20.    Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21.    No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22.    Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.  Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23.    Smile and laugh more.
24.    You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree….

Society :
25.    Call your family often.
26.    Each day give something good to others.
27.    Forgive everyone for everything..
28.    Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of  6.
29.    Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30.    What other people think of you is none of your business.
31.    Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life :
32.    Do the right thing!
33.    Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34.    Our Higher Power heals everything.
35.    However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36.    No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37.    The best is yet to come..
38.    When you awake alive in the morning, thank your Higher Power for it.
39.    Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least :
40.    Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did..

The tradition of carving a Halloween lantern came to America with  
Irish immigrants, who traditionally hollowed out a turnip. But in  
those days turnips were hard to find in America, and so they  
started using pumpkins instead.

But why put candles in pumpkins or turnips?

Witches are supposed to be frightened by candle light and so  
putting a lantern at your door on the night they prowled, was  
intended to prevent them getting in and eating your children.

You should never kill a spider on Halloween – it is said that the  
spirits of dead loved ones comeback and inhabit spiders for that  
night.

The Senate gave final legislative approval to expand the state’s 2005 anti-identity theft protection law.

Changes backed by Attorney General Roy Cooper would allow consumers to get the freeze for free if requested online. Consumer reporting agencies have been able to charge up to $10. They will still be able to charge up to $3 if the request is done by phone or mail.

The bill also would permit some court officials to remove Social Security numbers from documents on their Web sites and require businesses and government agencies to report all security breaches to Cooper’s office.

You might also want to spend some time learning about the men who
wrote and signed the document. They risked a lot for our freedoms.