Reality Check

Sometimes reality can be elusive. We live in a world of so much gaming technology, blue ray discs and 3d movies flying around that when we see a glimpse of disaster aftermath on television, it's hard to tell if it's real. Well, this morning North Carolina residents woke up in the aftermath of an EF2 tornado in late October following historic storms that ripped across the country doing massive amounts of damage in several states.
It is real.
Our present tour has been an exciting one, filled with adventure and frustration but always holding the potential of meeting more people and educating more children about the importance of disaster preparedness.
Today, as the news teams surge throughout the country following up on the disasters of this week. take a look at your family's plan, check that home disaster kit, and take a moment for a reality check. It could happen to you tomorrow.

STOP. THINK. CONNECT.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month.

I have to admit, cyber-security was never a big deal to me until the day I went to the Chasing4Life website and it was all in Russian. A few hours later, I went to check my Chasing4Life email and a skull appeared on the screen and it was all gone...4 years gone.

I started paying attention to cyber security after that, but have to admit I have a long way to go. I try to watch my kids, I try to monitor their activities, I try to back up files...

Cyber Security is a tough subject!

This week, we wanted to bring you some simple education regarding cyber-security. The following comes from StaySafeOnline.org, a website we recommend you go and spend some time on with your family. The site is amazing, very educational and easy to navigate.

When you cross the street, you look both ways so make sure it’s safe. Staying safe on the Internet is similar. It takes some common sense steps -- Stop. Think. Connect.

Stop: Before you use the Internet, take time to understand the risks and learn how to spot potential problems.

Think: Take a moment to be certain the path is clear ahead. Watch for warning signs and consider how your actions online could impact your safety, or your family’s.

Connect: Enjoy the Internet with greater confidence, knowing you’ve taken the right steps to safeguard yourself and your computer.

STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Protect yourself and help keep the web a safer place for everyone.

TIPS AND ADVICE

Tip: Keep a Clean Machine.

Advice:

• Keep security software current: Having the latest security software, web browser, and operating system are the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.
• Automate software updates: Many software programs will automatically connect and update to defend against known risks. Turn on automatic updates if that’s an available option..
• Protect all devices that connect to the Internet: Along with computers, smart phones, gaming systems, and other web-enabled devices also need protection from viruses and malware.
• Plug & scan: “USBs” and other external devices can be infected by viruses and malware. Use your security software to scan them.

Tip: Protect Your Personal Information.

Advice:

• Secure your accounts: Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many account providers now offer additional ways for you verify who you are before you conduct business on that site.
• Make passwords long and strong: Combine capital and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols to create a more secure password.
• Unique account, unique password: Separate passwords for every account helps to thwart cybercriminals.
• Write it down and keep it safe: Everyone can forget a password. Keep a list that’s stored in a safe, secure place away from your computer.
• Own your online presence: When available, set the privacy and security settings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing. It’s ok to limit who you share information with.

Tip: Connect with Care.

Advice:

• When in doubt, throw it out: Links in email, tweets, posts, and online advertising are often the way cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete or if appropriate, mark as junk email.
• Get savvy about Wi-Fi hotspots: Limit the type of business you conduct and adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access your machine.
• Protect your $$: When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security enabled. Look for web addresses with “https://” or “shttp://”, which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. “Http://” is not secure.

Tip: Be Web Wise.

Advice:

• Stay current. Keep pace with new ways to stay safe online. Check trusted websites for the latest information, and share with friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to be web wise.
• Think before you act: Be wary of communications that implores you to act immediately, offers something that sounds too good to be true, or asks for personal information.
• Back it up: Protect your valuable work, music, photos, and other digital information by making an electronic copy and storing it safely.

Tip: Be a Good Online Citizen.

Advice:

• Safer for me more secure for all: What you do online has the potential to affect everyone – at home, at work and around the world. Practicing good online habits benefits the global digital community.
• Post only about others as you have them post about you.
• Help the authorities fight cyber crime: Report stolen finances or identities and other cybercrime to www.ic3.gov (Internet Crime Complaint Center), the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.onguardonline.gov/file-complaint.aspx (if it's fraud), and to your local law enforcement or state attorney general as appropriate.

Practice Stop. Think. Connect. and encourage others to do it as well.

Don't fix what IS NOT broken!

One nice thing about having a blog of your own is that it is YOURS and you can pretty much write what you want. We rarely use this blog as a political platform as Chasing4Life has stayed neutral and practical in most situations that involved politics, but we have some opinions every now and then that we want to share.

Over the course of the last six months, we have had the honor of working with many of the Illinois Township Road Commissioners. These men and women are the people that maintain the roads our team travels everyday as we traverse backroads and small highways from event to event educating tens of thousands each year. We appreciate the work they do. Often times, they are the ones that, despite hours and regulations, schedules and lack of personnel, are out there when we have seen few others.

Now, looming in the news almost every week is an effort to do away with Townships altogether if not, at least, the road work.

The goal of quite a few is to take townships out of the road business in Illinois and have counties take over township roads.

That's one of several new recommendations being offered by business-backed Chicago Metropolis 2020 after the nonprofit group looked at ways to boost the state's economy through transportation. Chicago Metropolis 2020 was created in 1999 by The Commercial Club of Chicago, an organization of business and civic leaders promoting regional growth.

According to its executive director, Frank Beal, $12 billion is spent on public transportation by 2,859 units of government in Illinois. Nearly half of those units - 1,403 - are townships that collect nearly $90 million in gasoline tax revenue each year. The $90 million is 16 percent of local governments' share of gasoline taxes. Each township has its own equipment, staff and buildings.

"It would be more efficient and effective if this was taken over by the county," Beal said in a recent interview.

The recommendation in the organization's report was that counties be given the revenue that townships now receive for roadwork, beginning with township roads in urban areas.

Townships maintain 71,187 miles of roads in Illinois.

71,187 miles. And it is done well.

I am not sure why we feel the need to destroy infrastructure that DOES work while we sit idly by and ignore gross oversights elsewhere. On our recent trip just this past weekend, we traveled over a total of 1600 miles for one event in Illinois. As we traveled, we could not wait to get onto the Township roads for a break from the construction zones with no workers, the poorly maintained roads, and of course, just the roads that ran through highly populated areas of traffic. It was nice to get out onto a Township Road and roll down the windows, enjoying the scenic beauty of the Illinois I remembered as a child; to enjoy the well-maintained roadway, to notice the lack of litter and debris along the roadside.

I do not claim to know all of the ins and outs of the finances of Illinois, but I do know that I speak at dozens of libraries still awaiting their checks from the State from before last year. I know that the State has little if not any money, but why would you do away with one of the ONLY things that IS working?

Many years ago, I attended a church that I was happy attending. The pastor and his wife were always there for you, volunteers filled the lot every Saturday to maintain the church. There was not a moment when SOMEONE was not available. Two years ago, I called the church because of a family emergency hoping to reach the pastor and was greeted by an answering system…

“If you are calling for directions to the church…press one…if you are a youth and wishing to know the times of the next youth meeting…press three…if you are in need of counseling and in need of an English-speaking counselor…press four….if you are calling about our upcoming revival services…press five…”

Seriously? We need to take a look at what we are doing to our country before we make decisions that are strictly based on the financial. Yes, we are growing. Yes we are busier. Yes we have made bad decisions in the past, but now more than ever we need to remember what kept this country together for the longest time and maybe try to preserve some of it. The Township structure is that last connection the local people have to their local government; these Township officials are available, they understand the area and the people, and they care about it.

Would we save money? I bet we would, but before we swallow this hook, someone had better call the Dell Service Center and try to get help rebooting their computer so they are reminded of what happens when we make decisions purely based on finances. Sure it saves a lot of money having customer service outsourced to another country, but I still have that stupid laptop sitting in my office under the desk and it still doesn’t work.

Illinois is still a beautiful state and a great place to travel. The Township roads attract people from all over the world because of what they are and who has taken such great care of them all these decades. The strength of this country is still found on the smallest of highways and now more than ever, we need to stop trying to fix what already works and take a look elsewhere.

If you can't stand the heat...HAVE A DRILL

It really is not that cold yet, but some of the recent nights have been a great excuse to throw a small log in that wood burner and sit in front of the television enujoying that wonderful smell of a fire. Chimneys will soon all be in use throughout the homes across our country shortly, fire wood piles we have worked on all summer will soon be utilized, and fire in general will become a part of everyday life for the next few months. Personally I cannot wait.

I love the sound of crackling logs and the smell of a wood fire, but with all of this comes risk and danger.

October is Fire Prevention Month, and now is the time to begin thinking through evacuation plans, fire safety, smoke alarm maintenance and maybe the process of having a fire drill in your home.

Don't let your family become a statistic this year. A fire drill in your home with your children can save lives. Take a few minutes this month to fire-proof your home and get your family prepared.

Here's some facts from the NFPA:

Smoke alarms

• Smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a reported fire in half.
• Most homes (96%) have at least one smoke alarm (according to a 2008 telephone survey.)
• Overall, three-quarters of all U.S. homes have at least one working smoke alarm.
• Each year, nearly 3,000 people die in U.S. home fires.
• In 2003-2006, roughly two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from home fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
  - No smoke alarms were present in 40% of the home fire deaths.
  - In 23% of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound.
• In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate even though the fire was large enough, batteries were missing or disconnected. Nuisance alarms were the leading reason for disconnected alarms.
• More than half of the smoke alarms found in reported fires and two-thirds of the alarms found in homes with fire deaths were powered by battery only.
• Most homes still have smoke alarms powered by battery only. In a 2007 American Housing Survey (AHS), 67% of the respondents who reported having smoke alarms said they were powered by battery only.
• In a 2008 telephone survey, only 12% knew that smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.
• In fires considered large enough to activate a smoke alarm, hard-wired alarms operated 91% of the time; battery-powered smoke alarms operated 75% of the time.
• Interconnected smoke alarms on all floors increase safety.
  - In a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) survey of households with any fires, interconnected smoke alarms were more likely to operate and alert occupants to a fire. (This includes fires in which the fire department was not called.)

Fire

• Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires and injuries.
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths.
• Heating is the second leading cause of home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries.
• Electrical failures or malfunctions are factors in roughly 50,000 reported fires each year.
• Roughly 30, 000 intentionally set home structure fires are reported each year.

In 2008

• U.S. fire departments responded to 386,500 home fires.
• Home fires killed 2,755 people and injured 13,160.
• Someone was injured in a reported home fire every 40 minutes.
• Roughly eight people died in home fires every day.
• A fire department responded to a home fire every 82 seconds.
• 83% of all fire deaths and 79% of fire injuries resulted from home fires.