WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain’s campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over “injured American heroes.”

Obama’s campaign called the accusation “wildly inappropriate.” His spokesman has claimed that the visit to a military hospital in Germany was scrapped after the Pentagon raised concerns about political activity on a military base. Earlier, though, the campaign had said Obama decided the visit might be seen as inappropriate politicking. However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit.

A new McCain ad that began airing Saturday in selected markets also chides Obama as disrespectful for making “time to go to the gym” during his European visit while at the same time canceling the visit with wounded troops.

“Seems the Pentagon wouldn’t allow him to bring cameras,” according to the ad, which is being televised in Colorado, Pennsylvania and the Washington D.C. area. “John McCain is always there for our troops.”

McCain himself joined in the rebuke, saying in an interview to be aired Sunday by ABC’s “This Week” that “if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn’t visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event.”

The McCain campaign’s criticism came as it grappled for another day with the intense media attention focused on Obama’s tour of the Middle East and Europe. The Arizona Republican had goaded Obama into visiting Iraq and Afghanistan, then watched as Obama’s meetings with the leaders of those countries and Jordan, Israel, the Palestinians, Germany, France and Great Britain dominated the political news.

Responding, Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama and McCain both believed that troops should be honored and noted that the Illinois senator had visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan last week and had made numerous trips to Washington’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Obama still didn’t want injured soldiers “pulled into the back-and-forth of a political campaign,” Vietor said in a statement.

“Senator McCain knows full well that Senator Obama strongly supports and honors our troops, which is what makes this attack so disingenuous. This politicization of our soldiers is exactly what Senator Obama sought to avoid,” Vietor said.

Obama was flying from London to Chicago on Saturday when the McCain campaign issued a statement from Joe Repya, a retired Army colonel who said Obama had broken a commitment to visit the wounded Americans.

“Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders,” Repya said. “For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks.”

On Thursday, the day Obama gave an evening address to an estimated 200,000 people in Berlin, his campaign issued two written statements about the canceled trip to Ramstein Air Base and the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. In the first, no mention was made of Pentagon misgivings, only that Obama “decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.” A second statement, by retired general and Obama adviser Scott Gration, mentioned the Pentagon’s involvement.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Friday that a trip from Berlin to Ramstein had been planned for weeks, with Obama expecting to leave most staff and reporters at the airport while he went to the hospital to avoid appearances of a campaign event. After the Pentagon raised concerns within two days of the visit, it was scrapped, he said.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Obama would have been required to conform to the Defense Department prohibition of political activity, but that the senator was never told he couldn’t visit the hospital.
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 PHOENIX - Customers of two banks closed by federal regulators were assured that every penny of their money was protected, preventing lines of angry accountholders from forming Saturday.

The calm response was a stark contrast to the hundreds of angry customers who waited for hours earlier this month in Southern California to demand their money after IndyMac Bank’s assets were seized.

The 28 branches of the 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank N.A. — owned by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based First National Bank Holding Co. — were closed Friday by the FDIC. First National Bank of Nevada also operates as First National Bank of Arizona.

But Mutual of Omaha Bank bought all the two banks’ deposits, even those over the amount protected by FDIC insurance limits. IndyMac customers had to take a loss on whatever amount they had in the bank over the insurance limits.

One 1st National Bank of Arizona in downtown Phoenix didn’t even have a note outside to tell customers about the trouble Saturday. But there were no customers outside to tell.

“I feel like the Maytag repairman — there’s just not much to do on the customer side of things,” Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. spokesman David Barr said. “There’s going to be no impact on the depositors whatsoever, except basically a name change,” Barr said.

Insurance limits are typically $100,000, but some accounts, such as joint accounts, can have more money protected, Barr said.

On Monday, Mutual of Omaha will open the banks as its own branches, Barr said. During the weekend, accountholders can access their funds by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.

Jeff Schmid, chairman and CEO of Mutual of Omaha Bank, said the acquisition of the new accounts aligns with the company’s growth strategy to get aggressive with banking.

“We’re very optimistic about these markets,” said Schmid, who was in Scottsdale on Saturday to speak with his new employees. “This could be our finest hour.”

Mutual of Omaha Bank has $800 million in assets and operates 14 retail branches in Nebraska and Colorado. It’s a subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha, a 99-year-old insurance and financial services company with more than $19 billion in total assets.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a news release that 1st National was undercapitalized and had experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings “due to unsafe and unsound practices.”

Those practices “also weakened the bank’s condition and seriously prejudiced the interests of the bank’s depositors and the deposit insurance fund.”

Another news release said First Heritage was critically undercapitalized and was likely to incur losses that would deplete all or nearly all of its capital.

As of June 30, the closed banks had total assets of $3.6 billion. That’s down from $4.1 billion six months earlier. Most of the assets are in 1st National, while First Heritage N.A. accounts for $254 million.

The FDIC said the takeover of the failed banks was the least costly resolution.

Calls to 1st National executive vice president Joe Martony were not returned Saturday. No one could be reached at the First Heritage N.A.

1st National has 10 branches in Nevada and 15 branches in Arizona. First Heritage N.A. has three branches in Southern California.
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 NEW YORK - Four swimmers drowned and three were missing Saturday in two days of treacherous ocean currents at Long Island and New York City beaches, authorities said. At least three more had been rescued.

The missing included a 10-year-old girl who had been playing in the waters off Coney Island. A 10-year-old boy who was with her was rescued, police said.

Some authorities said the spate of swimmers being swept away seemed unprecedented. In the Long Island community of Long Beach, where two people drowned and another disappeared, Police Lt. Bruce Meyer said he “cannot recall there ever being back-to-back situations like this.”

The rough seas were due to a strong storm system that brought 8-foot waves to the area earlier this week, National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Connolly said.

The risk of rip currents during the weekend was “moderate,” meaning stronger and more frequent instances could be expected and “only experienced surf swimmers should enter the waters,” Connolly said.

On Friday, the rip current risk was “moderate to strong.”

In Long Beach, a swimmer or surfer died Saturday after he was spotted struggling about 150 yards from shore, Meyer said. Another man drowned at the same beach Friday while playing football in about 3 to 5 feet of water after lifeguard hours. A teenager playing with him was missing.

Also on Long Island, 42-year-old man died Saturday afternoon after swimming at a beach near the ocean in East Quogue, said Southampton Town police.

A fourth swimmer drowned Friday afternoon at Sandy Bar Beach on Long Island’s East End.

Also missing was a 23-year-old man swept away off Jacob Riis Beach in Queens on Friday. Authorities called off the search after looking for him for 23 hours, the Coast Guard said.

A friend who had tried to save him was rescued by firefighters.

Authorities also rescued a man swimming off Coney Island.

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 MIAMI - Blame it on the traffic. Or the number of new immigrants. Or the allure of the beach. Whatever the reason, Miami has secured the bottom spot — No. 50 among major U.S. cities — in new rankings of the percentage of adults who volunteer.

Nationally, the volunteer rate fell in 2007 for the second year in a row, to 26.2 percent, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which is releasing its report Sunday. It showed Miami with a volunteerism rate of 14.5 percent, replacing Las Vegas in last place among major metropolitan areas.

To be fair, the study found 620,000 volunteers were recruited in Miami last year, more than 60,000 over the previous year. And many local nonprofits say they have more volunteers than ever. But there’s no denying how far Miami lags behind other cities, particularly No. 1 Minneapolis-St. Paul, with a 39.3 percent rate.

The study notes that Miami’s poverty rate and average commute times are slightly higher than the national average, while other factors influencing volunteerism — home ownership and education level — are slightly lower.

Robert Grimm, director of research for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), said another factor was at play, what he calls “the leaky bucket” of volunteerism.

Nationally, about one in three people who volunteer in a given year do not do so the following year. In Miami, the rate is six in 10.

“There’s interest in volunteering in a lot of people but they’re just not staying with it,” Grimm said.

Rapid turnover is a problem across the country, and one of the reasons the national rate dropped again in 2007 after reaching 28.8 percent in 2005. In all, 60.8 million Americans 16 and older performed roughly 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service in 2007.

On the bright side, the report concluded that “volunteer intensity” is increasing, with 34 percent of volunteers contributing more than 100 hours of service in a year — the highest rate for that category since 2002.

On the worrisome side were mounting concerns that economic woes — including high gasoline prices and job insecurity — would be deterrents for some would-be volunteers.

“With more people in need — losing houses, losing jobs — there are more people to serve,” said CNCS board chairman Stephen Goldsmith. “You have fewer people helping and more people needing help.”

By region, the Midwest had the highest volunteer rate at 31.1 percent, followed by the West at 26.1, the South with 24.7 and the Northeast at 23.4.

By state, Utah had the highest rate, 43.9 percent, followed by Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska and Montana. Nevada had the lowest state rate, 17.7 percent; Florida and New York were the next lowest.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore., were the highest-ranked big cities, while New York City and Las Vegas were the lowest-ranked after Miami. Among 25 mid-size cities, Provo, Utah, came first with a 63 percent rate — the highest of any jurisdiction in the report.

The high volunteer rates in Utah and several of its cities are attributed in part to civic-mindedness among the state’s many Mormons, but Bill Hulterstrom, president of the Provo-based United Way of Utah County, said other factors also were at work.

“I believe that people here really feel like they can make a difference,” he said. “We do not wait for others to ‘fix’ our problems or neighborhoods.”

The CNCS, an independent federal agency, used Census Bureau data to determine its state and city rankings, which are based on three-year averages for 2005 through 2007.

In Florida, Harve Mogul, president and CEO of the United Way of Miami-Dade, said Miami’s low ranking wasn’t surprising because of the number of new immigrants.

“We have such a high number of recent immigrants who come from countries without the same organized philanthropy found in the United States,” he said. “We’ve found that as people spend more time in the United States and see the value of philanthropy and community service, they are more likely to donate their time and money.”

Still, Hands on Miami, which coordinates volunteer efforts for the local United Way, reported a marked increase in the number of volunteer hours: from 58,232 in its 2006-07 tally to 70,000 in 2007-08.

Lynn Heyman, who heads the volunteer program at Miami Children’s Hospital, said she has 600 active volunteers at any given time, more than ever. But the hospital must hold orientations twice monthly to keep volunteers streaming in to replace departing ones.

“I don’t think the days of people volunteering with an organization for years and years are still with us,” Heyman said.

Volunteer coordinators at other agencies point to other possible reasons.

Ani Olmeda Gonzalez at Mercy Hospital said the tough economy was forcing some would-be volunteers to choose paid work instead. Charlotte Donn at YMCA of Greater Miami noted the city is home to many transients. And Cathy Agosti of VITAS Innovative Hospice Care noted what many others repeated.

“Busy lives,” she said. “Busy lives.”
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 AHMADABAD, India - Police says that 39 people have been killed in the serial blasts that hit the western Indian city of Ahmadabad.

According to the latest details available at Ahmadabad city’s police control room Sunday another 110 people have been wounded in the 16 blasts that went off in several neighborhoods of the busy city on Saturday evening.

Saturday’s blasts came a day after seven small-intensity explosions hit the southern technology hub of Bangalore killing two people.

Several Indian cities have been hit by serial blasts in recent months. The attacks that have been blamed on Islamic militants.

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 MANILA, Philippines - Australian investigators were focusing on the possibility that an oxygen cylinder could have exploded mid-flight on the Qantas jumbo jet that made an emergency landing in the Philippines with a giant hole in its fuselage, officials said Sunday.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said Qantas has been ordered to urgently inspect every oxygen bottle aboard its fleet of 30 Boeing 747s.

“At this stage, there is no evidence whatsoever that this is a security-related event,” Neville Blyth, senior investigator from the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, told a news conference. “This is being treated as a safety investigation.”

Blyth said tests for bomb residue were negative. Philippine bomb-sniffing dogs had gone through the cargo hold and found no indication of explosives.

He said the focus is now on an oxygen bottle missing from the cargo hold that was left exposed when a section of the 747-400’s metal skin ripped away at 29,000 feet over the South China Sea on Friday.

Australian aviation safety authority official Peter Gibson said an inspection of all Qantas oxygen bottles on its fleet will take several days.

Passengers described the plane being shaken by a loud bang. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as the plane descended rapidly due to the rapid decompression, and debris flew through the cabin from a 9-foot hole in the fuselage. The plane, en route from London to Melbourne, Australia, had made a stopover in Hong Kong an hour earlier.

Four Australian Transport Safety Bureau specialists began inspecting the aircraft Saturday and were expected to continue their work for two or three days with assistance from Boeing and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, Blyth said.

The possibility of an explosion is one of several scenarios being considered by investigators, said Julian Walsh of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

“There are oxygen cylinders contained in the cargo compartment,” he told reporters. “The relevance of that will certainly be covered in the investigation.”

An official of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said initial reports indicated no link to terrorism.

A team of Philippine National Police bomb experts were also on hand to provide help in the investigation if needed, Ciron said.

“It’s standard operating procedure to find out if there was an explosion or not. It looks like there was none, but we’re going to confirm that later on,” Ciron told The Associated Press.

Some passengers told Australian media that their oxygen masks failed to work properly during the crisis, leading some to nearly pass out.

Other passengers, while applauding the pilot and crew’s performance, told of having to share oxygen masks between three people because of faulty or broken emergency equipment.

“Ours didn’t come down, and my husband just about (passed out) because he didn’t have any oxygen for about three minutes,” Beverley Doors told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Passenger David Saunders said that one man in front of him smashed the ceiling panel in order to force his mask to come down and that children were screaming and flailing.

“Their cheeks and lips were turning blue from lack of oxygen,” he said.

Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier said the design of the Qantas jet includes dozens of oxygen tanks located throughout the lower part of the aircraft, including below the passenger compartment where the hole is.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon told reporters Saturday he was “horrified” after seeing pictures of the gaping hole. He said it was too early to speculate on the caused.

“There are thousands of aircraft flying around the world today. Things happen. Something has happened here and we cannot speculate any more about what did happen,” Dixon said.

Peter Gibson, spokesman for Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said speculation that rust contributed to the accident could be discounted.

“It’s clearly an extremely rare and unusual event that a hole opens up in the fuselage,” he told reporters in Australia. “I know there’s a number of theories around, but they’re just that at this stage, they’re just theories. We don’t have the solid facts.”

Qantas boasts a strong safety record and has never lost a jet to an accident. The last crash of a smaller airline plane was in 1951.

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Name:      Shannyn Sossamon
Birth Name:     Shannon Marie Kahoolani Sossamon
Height:              5′ 8″
Sex:                  F
Nationality:     American
Birth Date:     October 3, 1979
Birth Place:     Hawaii, USA
Profession:     actress

* A self-described mutt (she’s Hawaiian, French, Dutch, Irish, Filipino and German), Shannyn was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 3, 1978.
* Shannyn loves all kinds of music, watching movies, and dancing, writing, and painting.
* Was born in Hawaii but grew up in Nevada.
* Was with her friend, who deejayed for Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Paltrow’s joint birthday party in Hollywood, when discovered by director of A KNIGHT’S TALE (2001).
* Was in three commercials before being in the movies: Oldsmobile, Kodak, and The Gap.
* Stars in Mick Jagger’s solo video God Gave Me Everything (November, 2001)
* Was a receptionist for her stepfather’s car dealership.
* Was as a DJ in small clubs in LA.
* Worked briefly as a telemarketer for a carpet cleaning service.
* Nominated for Best Kiss at MTV Movie Awards for A KNIGHT’S TALE (2002) - shared with Heath Ledger
* Nominated for Best Musical Sequence at MTV Movie Awards for A KNIGHT’S TALE (2002) - shared with Heath Ledger
* Nominated for Breakthrough Female Performance at MTV Movie Awards for A KNIGHT’S TALE (2002).

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Chances are it’s the price of gas, not auto insurance, that’s driving you to the poor house.

But if you want to cut your auto insurance premiums to the bone, stay away from small, fast cars.

“It’s a common denominator among vehicles that have the highest losses — a lot of smaller, sportier vehicles, says Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

“Contrary to the idea that smaller cars can help you avoid crashes, the data shows that small cars get into more accidents,” he says. “If you feel like you have a vehicle that can zip in and out of traffic, chances are you’ll do that.”

More from Bankrate.com:

• 20 Things to Know About Auto Insurance

• Finding Private Health Insurance

• Bankrate’s 2008 Insurance Guide Tools

Each year, the institute, and its sister organization, the Highway Loss Data Institute, analyze the actual insurance losses associated with the most popular vehicle makes and models. Since insurance companies use similar kinds of data to set premiums, the rankings give consumers a window into how their vehicle choices affect their auto premiums.

And, once again, the data suggests that small cars and speed are an expensive combination for insurers — especially with a young driver behind the wheel.

“Sporty cars tend to be driven in ways that lead to more crashes,” says Rader. “They also tend to be driven by younger, riskier drivers.” And smaller cars also tend to be more affordable, which makes them more attractive to those same younger drivers, he says.

“The Subaru Impreza WRX, the Mitsubishi Lancer, the Acura RSX, the Nissan Sentra SE-R — these vehicles have the highest rates of collision,” says Rader. “And age is a part of it. It’s how these vehicles are driven.”

10 Most-Expensive Cars to Insure

The 10 vehicles that account for the highest dollar amount of losses for insurance companies (starting with the most expensive) are:

1. Cadillac Escalade EXT 4WD
2. Subaru Impreza WRX 4WD
3. Hyundai Tiburon
4. Mitsubishi Lancer
5. Scion tC
6. Acura RSX
7. Nissan Sentra SE-R
8. Suzuki Forenza
9. Nissan Sentra/Mitsubishi Eclipse
10. Chevrolet Cobalt two-door

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, based on 2004-2006 models

10 Least-Expensive Cars to Insure

The 10 vehicles that account for the lowest dollar amount of losses for insurance companies (starting with the least expensive) are:

1. Ford Five Hundred 4WD (now the Ford Taurus)
2. Buick Rendezvous 4WD
3. Buick Lucerne/Buick Rainier 4WD/Honda Odyssey
4. Ford Freestyle 4WD/Subaru Outback 4WD
5. Buick Rendezvous/Honda Pilot
6. Chrysler Town & Country LWB
7. Honda Pilot 4WD
8. Buick LaCrosse/Chevrolet Uplander/Ford Escape/Volvo V70
9. Dodge Grand Caravan/Ford Freestyle 4WD
10. Ford Explorer 4WD/GMC Sierra 1500 4WD/Toyota Highlander/Toyota Sienna

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, based on 2004-2006 models

The car that comes in fifth on the “most expensive to insure” list, the Scion tC, has one of the youngest demographics. Thirty-five percent of drivers are under 25, says Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president for the Highway Loss Data Institute.

But the car at the top of the list, the Cadillac Escalade, bucks the trend. So why is a luxury SUV most commonly driven by a more affluent and comparative older clientele on the list? Two words: theft magnet.

“The Escalade has a lot of buzz in the entertainment industry,” says Rader. “You can’t watch an episode of ‘Cribs’ without seeing an Escalade. So it’s desirable.”

So desirable that owners face a comprehensive premium of six times the national average, says Hazelbaker.

“It’s one of the iconic vehicles that continues to be popular with pop culture stars, so it continues to be popular for people to steal,” he says. Plus, “everything in an Escalade bolts into a Suburban,” he says.

Least Expensive to Insure

The vehicles that are likely to have the lowest insurance costs? Today’s version of the good old fashioned family car, says Rader. These skew toward large sedans, or midsize SUVs or minivans.

“They tend to be driven by people who are not as likely to speed or drive recklessly,” he says.

And they also aren’t as likely to be used to commute to and from work, says Hazelbaker. That means the cars aren’t on the road during rush hour, which also lowers their risk.

“We have an awful lot of soccer mom cars on that list,” he says. “The (Buick) Rendezvous, the (Subaru) Outback, the (Honda) Pilot, the Chrysler Town & Country — all of these are sort of ‘mommy mobiles.’”

And none of the vehicles on the cheapest to insure list “are very large,” either, says Hazelbaker. “As the size of an SUV or pickup goes up, you do have higher losses.”

The all-around least expensive to insure? The Ford Five Hundred, the study found. A medium-sized, affordable sedan now known as the Ford Taurus, “it’s probably driven by a favorable demographic in a favorable way,” he says. “It’s a suburban family second car.”

Cars of this type “are probably living in a garage,” which makes them less of a theft target. Plus they tend to be less desirable to thieves, he says.

“If you’re going to pick out something to steal, what would you choose?” says Hazelbaker.

When Bigger Isn’t Better for Premiums

But larger vehicles don’t automatically mean lower premiums. Some super-size vehicles could actually increase the cost of your insurance.

When two cars collide, the average repair cost for each is about $3,000, says Hazelbaker. But some larger vehicles are routinely linked to higher-dollar damage to other cars. And that could cost you in terms of more expensive insurance.

The top five linked to highest dollar damages to other cars, according to the institute, are as follows.

1. Hummer H2 SUT 4dr 4WD
2. Hummer H3 4dr 4WD
3. Hummer H2 4dr 4WD
4. Dodge Ram 2500 mega cab 4WD
5. Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4dr

“They’re big, heavy vehicles that tend to inflict a lot of damage on what they hit,” says Rader. See the top 10 list.

Keeping Premiums Down

Want to keep your premiums low? Talk to your agent before you buy your next vehicle, says Loretta Worters, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry organization. Once you’ve narrowed your choices to two or three models, ask if any of the premiums will be significantly different. Note if any of the models have high repair costs or theft rates, she says.

It can be tricky. Even different models of the same car can have different costs when it comes to insurance. “A different motor or different luxury items” can change your premium, says Worters.

One example is a convertible. That ragtop could cost you more than the hardtop version of the same car, says Worters. A convertible is “easier to get into, so it might be more costly,” she says.

Another tip off to high-priced premiums: higher-priced cars.

More from Yahoo! Finance:

• How Technology Can Help Trim Auto Insurance

• Insurers Offer Low-Mileage Discounts

• Reframing the Discussion Around Small-Car Safety
Visit the Insurance Center

“The more expensive the car is, all things being equal, the more it’s going to cost to insure,” says Dick Luedke, spokesman for the State Farm Insurance Cos.

And each car has more than one score to consider. The same car that shows lower-than-average losses in terms of inflicting damage might be worse in terms of theft. But insurance companies, and the premiums, take the whole package into account.

So what categories make the most difference, when it comes to your premium?

“The biggest portion of auto insurance is for liability,” says Luedke. Next is collision and comprehensive, fairly equally. And after that comes medical payments, he says.

Smart money: Look at your car’s scores in all categories, but in the end, shop safety. Pick up great safety information, like crash tests results, rollover ratings, recalls, service bulletins and consumer complaints with the following sites.

And the car is only part of the equation. You, your lifestyle and your driving record will also have a sizable impact on the premium. To calculate your premium, insurance companies analyze everything from your age, residence, and driving patterns to your prior driving record and credit history.

When it comes to the premium, says Hazelbaker, “the person in the vehicle makes the most difference.”

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Friday, August 1 is a red-letter day for eclipse enthusiasts. On this date, the sun is planning to be partially eclipsed within the duration of an immense community such a includes western and principle Asia, portions of northern and pivotal Europe, all of Greenland and still a diminutive slice of northeastern North America.

A overall solar eclipse — the principally in around two and a part decades — serves to be visible along a narrow track this are able to create for the duration of the Northwest Passage of Canada, supplies a glancing suck to northern Greenland, consequently shifts southeast over Siberia and western Mongolia and before ending close to the celebrated Silk Route of China.

The way of totality for such a upcoming eclipse is never a good amount of as opposed to 157 miles (252 km) wide.

Where it is visible

The whole eclipse begins at sunrise within the duration of Northern Canada’s Queen Maud Gulf, at which the moon’s umbra plans to earliest touch ebbed on the Earth, resulting in Canada’s hosting its beforehand overall solar eclipse since February 26, 1979.

As the sun comes to view more than the north-northeast horizon its disk serves to become utterly blocked by the moon. This is in the state of the renowned Northwest Passage, a sea way connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans with the Arctic archipelago of Canada. The different islands of the archipelago are separated based on data from one an extra and the Canadian mainland by a chain of Arctic waterways collectively famous as the Northwestern Passages. Politically, currently sector belongs to Nunavut, the highest and fresh of the territories of Canada; it was separated lawfully based on the vast Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999.

Although the umbral shadow narrowly misses the areas of Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island, and Resolute on Cornwallis Island, its northern fringe recently clips the northernmost permanently occupied place in the world: Canada’s remote outpost of Alert, that lies recently 508 miles (817 km) from the North Pole and has a populace of only 5. Here, totality is able to endure 43 seconds.

Crossing the open Arctic, the south part of the totality direction slides throughout the a good number of fjords of northermost Greenland, following to during 450 miles (720 km) of the North Pole at 9:38 UT over the Arctic Ocean before changing southeast. Totality sweeps during the Norwegian island cluster of Svalbard, additonally the northern outside edge of the umbra’s direction merely grazes Russia’s Franz Josef Land island group, when that happens cuts everywhere the crescent-shaped island of Novaya Zemlya on its way to substantial Asia. The umbra previous touches the Russian coast on the Yamal Peninsula. Not far inland, biggest eclipse, setting off 2 seconds 27 moments of totality, is received pretty well the town of Nadym (pop. ~46,000), just inland of the boot-shaped Gulf of Obskaja.

Spending half of your summer in Siberia may sound a bit a great deal more tantalizing upon hearing too the major way passes virtually directly within the duration of the city of Novosibirsk, Russia’s third a large number of populous city (pop. ~1.4 million) at which totality begins at 10:44 UT and should go on 2 seconds 18 seconds. The core of the path should when that happens mimic the Mongolia-China margin for a large number of hundred kilometers, with Olgij, Mongolia going to get 1 min 36s of totality. Totality eventually whisks to north-central China, crossing the west end of the Great Wall before leaving the Earth at a rank northeast of the major city of Xi’an (pop. 3.9 million).

The northern portion of Maine as good as the Canadian Maritime Provinces may have a partial eclipse at sunrise.

Eclipse expedition

A many peculiar make an effort to rendezvous surrounded by the moon’s shadow would be attained by an Airbus A330-200 twin-engine long-range aircraft. Following a flight legislation optimized specifically for the purpose of viewing such a eclipse, all of the numerous peculiar facilities of their flight experience carried on evaluated and satisfied in amenities by the air charter organization Deutsche Polarflug (AirEvents) that has in the past Hello How Are you? triumphant over-flights of the North Pole amid such a same aircraft.

Glenn Schneider, based on data from the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory and a veteran of 26 general eclipses, has functioned out the detailed formulation of the flight plan. He is targeting a rate for the astronomical polar north, at nearly +83-degrees latitude and virtually 440 nautical miles based on what i read in the North Pole at an altitude of 37,000 feet above the Arctic Ocean.

This is able to be a unique happening in the annals of solar eclipse-chasing from the time there are no enters of any over&wshyp;arching solar eclipse observations as far north as this. While general solar eclipses in the polar districts are not rare, accessibility is outstandingly difficult. Until presently juncture in phase (and technology) basically high-latitude (north or south) general solar eclipses experience kept on elusive. The whole solar eclipse of 23 November 2003 was the above all in history to suffer continued witnessed for the Antarctic.

Once yet again it needs repeating: to check at the sun without ideal eye preservation is dangerous. Even if you are in the channel of the whole eclipse you should ask for to cover your eyes over the partial phases.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He records throughout astronomy for The New York things and supplementary publications, and he is in addition an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

* Original Story: Viewer’s Guide: Aug. 1 Solar Eclipse

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ight Ranger is an American rock band made in The Bay of Pigs such a gained ample popularity in the 1980s investing in a chain of winning albums and singles.The band’s chiefly two albums purchased during 10 million copies worldwide, and gave the band distant recognition. The quintet is probably smartest famed for the gas ballad “Sister Christian”, that peaked at #5 in the beginning of 1984.

After the prosperity waned in the late 1980s, the band split up in 1989 and its staff pursued a good amount musical endeavours together with both board and solo efforts.[2][3][4] Several realtors released an album without first singer Jack Blades in the mid-1990s, but the band quickly re-united to release two new albums in the latter part of the decade. Despite the departure of first keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald and guitarist Jeff Watson, the band has been to tour to 2008 and could be particularly popular in Asian countries plus Japan.
Beginnings

The group’s origin can be traced going back to Rubicon, a pop board led by Jerry Martini, who gained fame as a member of Sly and the Family Stone. After Rubicon’s demise in 1979, bassist Jack Blades made a hard rock trio[4] amid drummer Kelly Keagy and guitarist Brad Gillis. Performing short of the and cr Stereo, the threesome afterward added keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald, a former member of Montrose (and the offstage keyboard player for Van Halen from the time the 1990s). Fitzgerald swiftly recommended enlisting a minute virtuoso guitarist, so Jeff Watson, who led his own band in Northern California, was added to the group. The seeds got sown for a new melodic hard rock band, initially identified ziggly Ranger.

1980s

In 1982, the band altered its and cr to Night Ranger following a nation band, The Rangers, alleged a trademark infringement. By their point, properties had recorded Dawn Patrol for Boardwalk Records, opening for ZZ Top and Ozzy Osbourne; the latter performer employed Brad Gillis as an alternate guitarist for the just now deceased Randy Rhoads. When Boardwalk folded under, producer Bruce Bird secured Night Ranger a situation through MCA Camel in 1983.

Their primarily 3 albums smacked a scale between hard rockers laden among sexual innuendo and to be had pop ballads to guarantee airplay. Dawn Patrol, Midnight Madness, and Seven Wishes all arrived at RIAA platinum status and garnered the band distant fame. 1987’s Big Life fell very brief of Platinum status at to be had 800,000 copies. Thereafter, the group’s fortunes commenced to decline.

Night Ranger’s general image tended to be something cleaner as opposed to MTV contemporaries covet Mötley Crüe or Ratt that helped the band flourish within the duration of a decade characterized by PMRC controversy. Moreover, such a Top 20 anthem, “(You Can Still) Rock In America,” appealed to a patriotic inclination in 1980s rock, pushed provide by both Ted Nugent and Sammy Hagar (Jack Blades will later on build a popular supergroup in on Nugent, dubbed Damn Yankees)[4].

Negative criticism abounded in the band’s heyday; Rolling Stone’s assess of Seven Wishes took a swipe at Night Ranger’s “formula” of “sub-Broadway” ballads. Other critics got smaller flattering, amongst terms the as “poseurs” and “pomp-rockers” in diverse music guides. But favourable critics, this kind of as Hit Parader, underscored Jack Blades’ puppy-dog appeal, that won during female fans, additonally Gillis and Watson’s duelling guitars delighted the same male audience overly guitar-driven bands this type of as Van Halen had presently starting to cultivate. Both guitarists additionally featured notably in magazines as if “Guitar for the Practicing Musician.”

Dawn Patrol’s primarily single, “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”, acquired a inflation for the duration of its MTV video airplay and peaked modestly at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Sing Me Away,” a concert favourite sung by Keagy, failed to chart a good deal although it as well featured on MTV.

Night Ranger’s own solidified provided this time album, Midnight Madness, that pushed the band based on information from opening act to headliner status by the summer of 1984. Apart based on “Rock in America,” Night Ranger released two ballads: “When You Close Your Eyes” (#14) and “Sister Christian”, (#5) written and sung by Kelly Keagy for his younger sister, Christine. “Sister Christian” proved to be the band’s milestone — as far as a millstone — as times ahead incidences turned out.[3]

According to a afterward interview amidst Brad Gillis, “Sister Christian” had really carried on executed in 1982. But Gillis believed the band chose not to release it on “Dawn Patrol” as properties got afraid of costing such a hard rock credentials. “Sister Christian,” eventually became a prom favourite, as vastly as a cautionary anthem for teenage girls every where in careful Middle America, rebuke them not to “give it up before such a long period of time is due”, as the song’s time verse urged.

In 1985, Night Ranger been heard headlining such a own tours in validation of Seven Wishes, that trailed a actually loose thinking of the band flying throughout the ocean in a WWII B-25 Mitchell bomber. Jack Blades later on reported he and Brad Gillis got fascinated by World War II planes. Night Ranger’s “Sentimental Street” video a great deal placed them in an Amelia Earhart scenario, that reported the overall band lost at sea. Like Midnight Madness, Seven Wishes was too blessed amid 3 hit singles: “Sentimental Street” (#8; sung by Kelly Keagy), Jack Blades’ mid-tempo rocker “Four In The Morning” (#19), and the pleasant, acoustic-flavoured “Goodbye” (#17), that saw the band veering toward an overtly commercial direction.

Between 1984 and 1987, Night Ranger branched out to soundtracks, recording or contributing songs to different teenage films. In 1984, the band released “Interstate Love Affair” (later begun on Seven Wishes) for Teachers, starring Nick Nolte. The band moreover obtained exposure on two Anthony Michael Hall vehicles, Sixteen Candles (1985) and Out of Bounds in (1986). “Rumours in the Air” according to Midnight Madness appeared on the former, additonally the latter featured “Wild and Innocent Youth,” a Blades-Keagy composition unreleased by the band.

In 1987, properties co-wrote the title theme to the Michael J. Fox film The Secret of My Success, that served as the trigger single based on information from Big Life. Unfortunately, Night Ranger involved stiff competition according to glam bands this as Bon Jovi and Poison, additonally entire tastes had commencing to shift toward “bad boy” groups, the as Guns N’ Roses. Moreover, specific Night Ranger fans perceived the band’s Hollywood flirtations as evidence of “selling out,” reflected by a drop off in album sells for Big Life.

Despite a cluster of rather mature songs, combined with the nuanced “Rain Comes Crashing Down,” none of the some singles out of Big Life hit the Top 40. “Secret of My Success” stalled simply very brief of hit single status, although heavy MTV rotation in 1987. Night Ranger moreover openly quarrelled investing in MCA in deciding on “Hearts Away” in lieu of one of the heavier songs. Their label likely one more Top 10 ballad, covet “Sister Christian” or “Sentimental Street,” but “Hearts Away” failed to catch on through Night Ranger’s 1987 tour — a vigorous chain of dates everywhere North America and the Caribbean.

In 1988, Man in Motion promised a send back to previously form, amongst a good amount of hard rock to anchor the group’s sagging fortunes. However, Alan Fitzgerald left within the duration of the recording, requiring a touring keyboardist (Jesse Bradman) to be paid for the road. Furthermore, none of the singles got distinguished adequate to soar radio airplay, and MCA after additional chose ballads within the duration of rockers. “I Did It for Love” (written by Russ Ballard) fared poorly, still investing in a cameo existence by Morgan Fairchild in the video. Although the band nevertheless views “Restless Kind” as a favourite, it moreover failed to chart. Man in Motion hence became the earliest Night Ranger album not to do gold or platinum status.

1990s

After a tour in 1988–1989 supporting the album(including an opening slot for Kansas), Jack Blades left Night Ranger to make the popular supergroup Damn Yankees providing Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw of Styx and the bunch broke up.In 1991 Kelly Keagy and Brad Gillis enlisted Gary Moon to replace Jack Blades as bassist and determined to keep in a trio format ensuing Jeff Watson left to renew his solo career. Night Ranger recorded one album, Feeding Off The Mojo in 1995, that did not develop the band’s profile contrary a rigorous tour schedule in the the first part of 1990s. For the 1995 tour to promote Mojo, David Zaijcek(from the board Airborne) was added on keyboards and guitar to bolster the group’s phase sound. In 1996 Jack Blades paid off to Night Ranger, that reformed amid all two previous workers for two studio albums on CMC Records, who engineered a similar comeback for Styx. While Neverland and Seven did not become as triumphant as the band’s the beginning of material in the United States, properties became fairly popular in Japan. The band tours sporadically in between solo albums and projects. Jack Blades furthermore serves as main counsellor for the Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy Camp.

2000s

Night Ranger persists in to play the summer festival circuit. In 1999 properties joined a larger amount of 1980s bands in the minute instalment of the Rock Never Stops Tour.

In 2003 Alan Fitzgerald was replaced by Great White rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie. Fitzgerald handled offstage keyboards yet yet again for Van Halen in 2004.

In 2007, additonally struggling on Hole in the Sun, Jeff Watson was fired based on what i read in the band. His replacement for the remainder of the tour was Winger/Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach. Lardie and Beach experience at this moment left the band to focus on projects based on what i read in Great White and Winger/Whitesnake. According to the band’s MySpace site, Joel Hoekstra(from 1960s rockers the Turtles) has replaced Beach and Christian Matthew Cullen has replaced Lardie.

In January 2008, in a podcast interview amidst Stuck in the 80s, Jack Blades claimed the band’s newly drafted album — Hole in the Sun — will be released in April 2008 and serves to be supported by a nationwide tour. In addition, Blades assumed the band was flying to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in late January to play a special confirm for the Navy and Marines troops on the island. To date Night Ranger experience purchased 16 million albums worldwide.