MEMPHIS MOST DANGEROUS INTERSECTIONS NEAR YOU?

There are folks who compile intersections with the most injury auto accidents. Here is a list that is often pointed to.  How close do you live to these?


Summer Avenue and Sycamore View Road in Memphis

Winchester Road and Riverdale Road in Memphis

Winchester Road and Mendenhall Road in Memphis

Winchester Road and Kirby Parkway in Memphis

Winchester Road and Hickory Hill Road in Memphis

State Line Road and Riverdale Road in Memphis

Hacks Cross Road and Lowrance Road (near Bill Morris Parkway) in Memphis

Houston Levee Road and Walnut Grove Road in Cordova

Houston Levee Road and Macon Road in Cordova

Macon Road and Collierville-Arlington Road in Collierville

I would add the following:

Austin Peay and Covington Pike/Singleton in front of Methodist North in Memphis.

Germantown Road at Trinity in Memphis.

Watkins at U.S. Highway 51 in Frayser.

385 Paul Barrett Parkway at U.S. Highway 51 in Millington, Tn.

Where would you add?

FOUR WAYS TO MAKE YOURSELF SCAM-PROOF

FOUR WAYS TO MAKE YOURSELF SCAM-PROOF

Would you like to have a super power that makes it virtually impossible for someone to trick you out of your hard-earned money?

Here are four secrets that are absolutely like kryptonite to scammers.

1. Say, “I am not buying today,” and mean it.  Walk away from high-pressure sellers who tell you that you must make a decision right away. You and I have made our worst decisions when we are in a hurry and under heavy sales pressure.  Never make a decision in those conditions!  Getting second and third opinions, along with extra time and advice from others, will usually stop the high pressure sales guys and they will move on to scam an easier victim.  My mother gets rid of high pressure folks easily because she says, “Just talk to my son, David, he’s the attorney.”  Whether it is a used car salesman, a timeshare hawker, an air conditioning repairman, or a financial services representative, move slowly and do not agree to anything you do not understand or feel pressure to do. “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:4.  When it comes to business and motorcycles, speed hurts.

2. Realize “You can’t get something for nothing.” Ignore letters or emails that ask you to help transfer money into your bank account from Nigeria or to wire money out of the country. You did not win a Canadian lottery you cant’ recall even entering. If it seems too good to be true, it is! Never pay money upfront to get a loan or win a lottery or sweepstakes. Real places never require you to send money to them.  Don’t cash checks you get in the mail along with a letter or call that tells you you’ve won an unexpected prize. The checks are fakes. We should not even want something that is a get rich quick gimmick. “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.” Proverbs 13:11. When it comes to scams, greedy folks are often both the victims and the scammers.

3. “Don’t tell anyone your business.” Never, ever give your social security number, passwords, date of birth, bank account or credit card information to those who call, or email you. If someone calls “from your bank” or a credit card company seeking this information, hang up and call them at a number you already have that you know is correct.  You will find that both your bank and your credit card company know all those secret things about you, and a lot more, and will not be calling to get that information from you.  “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” Proverbs 2:11. When it comes to personal information, loose lips sink ships.

4. “Don’t promise away tomorrow.” Scammers are not always out to do you harm. Some just always see you as a payday. Someone in your own family may be a black hole that just absorbs money. They are always broke, and always behind on something that it is just critical. I notice it is always someone else’s fault: the car repair guy, the baby’s doctor or the mean landlord who won’t cut them a break. They just need someone to co-sign a loan, and all their problems will disappear. Besides, they will say, they will pay it back. Please never co-sign a loan that you are not willing and able to easily pay in full without a hint of repayment. “It is poor judgment to co-sign a friend’s note, to become responsible for a neighbor’s debts.”  Proverbs 17:18.  When it comes to co-signing, there is always a reason that they need your good credit.

These four secrets, grounded in the Good Book, will keep you from being such an easy victim. For more tips, see my website.

Are YOU Making A Legal Mistake?

LEGAL MISTAKES YOU MIGHT BE MAKING

In speaking to churches and civic groups, I hear and see mistakes that regular folks are making that can hurt their family.

1. Carrying “Only Liability” is a BIG MISTAKE.  I know that auto insurance is expensive, and UM is not legally required, but always make sure you have plenty of Uninsured Motorists (UM) Coverage. Even on your old cars, or the bike you hardly ever ride.  UM covers you, your family or passengers from injuries caused by unknown, uninsured, or underinsured at fault drivers.  These type of drivers cause many more crashes than others, and are often drunk drivers.  You get to select the amount to insure you and your family for, and it is NOT expensive compared to what you may get.  I recommend at least $100,000 worth.

2. Buying things as “investments” that are not worth it. While there are examples of people having some success with the following items, most folks I talk to really regret buying investments that do not usually appreciate in value.  These often include timeshares, whole life insurance, universal life insurance and many popular collectables.

3. Co-signing.  If you are asked to co-sign a loan, you might be flattered. Another way to look at it is this: No one trusts them enough to loan them money, so instead your home, assets and good name will be risked so they can get something that cannot earn themselves. Consider the following verses:
a. Proverbs 17:18: One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
b. Proverbs 22:26-27: Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?
c. Proverbs 6:1-35: My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. ...

4. Fearful or hasty decisions. While it is not technically a legal mistake, making decisions from a place of fear or in a hurry is almost always a bad call. Fear is what makes people often pay too much for a “new” car because they are afraid of a “used” one.  Being in a hurry is what high-pressure sales guys rely on to make you sign a deal fast.  The old saying- “Think long, think wrong” is itself – Wrong!  Be the person who takes advice, and seeks wisdom before you make a decision. Be the person who gets a second or even a third opinion.  Whether it is surgery, a new air conditioner or a car repair, get more advice.

These mistakes can be very expensive.  Seek counsel and move slowly.  A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel. ~Proverbs 1:5.

Gun Control OR Not Enough Guns?

NOT ENOUGH GUNS?

The Aurora, Colorado shooting was beyond tragic. It was barbaric. It was an evil act by an evil man who plotted for maximum loss of life. He even booby-trapped his apartment with over 30 explosives.

It reminds us all of other U.S. mass shootings in recent years that include:

2011: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen other people were shot in a parking lot near Tucson, Arizona. Six of those shot died and the shooter found insane.

2009: The Army says 13 people were killed and 30 wounded in a shooting rampage at its Fort Hood base in Texas.

2007: 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech before the shooter killed himself in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

2006: A 32 year old, shot five girls fatally at an Amish School, and then killed himself. The Amish quickly forgave his family.

1999: Students just 18, and 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 13 and wounding 26 others before committing suicide.

1998: Shockingly, an 11, and 13 year old, killed four girls and a teacher at a Jonesboro, Arkansas, middle school. 10 others were wounded in the shooting.

1991: A man, in Luby's Cafeteria in Texas, killed 22 people, wounding 20 more.

We all want to stop these, so Congress again looks at tougher gun laws.  A Federal “Assault Weapon Ban” was in effect from 1994 to 2004. It banned high capacity magazines, (a spring loaded metal box that hold bullets that anyone can make) in an effort to curb shootings. In the shootings above, the only one even using an assault rifle was The Aurora shooting, and that was only after he used a shotgun.

Where gun control exists, such as Chicago which has a murder rate higher than Mexico City, only law-abiding citizen are disarmed. Criminals do not obey laws.  This seems to be new information to some. Insane people who intend suicide and want to take people with them will even rig 30 explosives, which are also banned.

But here is one thing in common: With only the exception of Tucson, every public shooting in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed since at least 1950 has occurred in a place where citizens are not allowed to carry their own firearms.

In fact, Switzerland issues firearms to all adults, and the rate of gun crime is too low to report. This is why people do not rob police departments and gun shops very often.  The argument that lot of armed people will just cause a shootout is invalid if the only alternative is that innocent people are slain like helpless cattle.

I wish an armed, trained concealed-carry permit holder had violated theater policy and had used his prohibited handgun to stop the shooter that night in Aurora. Don’t you?  

If so, then you may agree that the problem is not a lack of gun laws, but a lack of gun owners.