The Smart Place

How To Stay Safe During A Bear Encounter

Bear

Those who hike frequently through woods and natural areas know that what you do when you encounter a bear can affect the outcome of the situation. Although bear attacks are rare, they are becoming more common as humans continue to encroach on their natural habitat. Bears are also increasingly encroaching on human habitat as they forage for human food at the edges of cities and towns.

In most cases, when bears attack humans, the bear has been startled and put on the defensive. In general, bears do not actively stalk and hunt humans. There are situations that will increase the bear’s aggressive defense of its territory. Protecting a young cub, guarding a fresh kill, and being cornered result in the most reported bear attacks.

There are many ways to increase your safety when encountering a bear. The first is to not encounter one at all. Always keep aware of your surroundings when in the wilderness. Scan ahead with binoculars and choose another route if you detect bears in the area. When hiking around bears, staying downwind of them will help to keep you undetected by the bear.

If you are not able to avoid a bear and do encounter one, calmness is the key. Sudden moves will startle the bear and it will feel threatened. Start by assessing the situation. Do you see a bear cub? Are you blocking the adult bear’s path to the cub? Are you in the way of a bear’s meal? If the bear is more than about 200 feet away from you, its poor eyesight might not allow you to be identified as human. Talking out loud in a calm voice will help it to make the identification and the bear may simple walk off and avoid you.

If the bear is closer and is holding its ground or advancing on you, staying calm is critical. Do not try to run from the bear. Bears outrun humans every time. Back away from the bear very slowly with your arms down at your sides. If you are cutting a bear off from its cub or its food, back away so that the bear has a clear path. Do not turn your back on the bear as this may signal it to attack. Do not make direct eye contact with the bear as it may consider that a challenge. Do, however, keep glancing at the bear to know how it is reacting to you. Once the bear does not feel threatened any longer, it will wander off.

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Even after all of your actions to avoid confrontation, the bear may still find you a threat and may charge. Usually, the first charge, called the bluff charge, is a warning. The bear is giving you the opportunity to back down. If the bear comes at you without bluffing, use pepper spray, but only as a last resort. To temporarily blind a bear with pepper spray, you must be close to the bear- within 15 feet. If you miss or only get a small amount of pepper spray in the bear’s eyes, it may become enraged and attack further.

If the bear does attack after a bluff charge or other posturing, playing dead may help your chances of survival. It signals to the bear that you are no longer a threat. This will not work, however, if the attack was predatory in nature. Predatory attacks often come without warning or posturing since the bear is intent on gaining a meal. If you are the victim of a predatory attack by a bear, you have no alternative except to continue to fight as hard as you can, and simultaneously try to seek escape and protection. Your backpack may provide you some protection. Strike out at the face, especially the sensitive nose and eyes, and protect your own face and head as much as possible.

While most encounters with bears will not result in an attack, being prepared for the worst will help make sure you survive one.

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Do You Need a Kick in the Pants to Start a New Career?

Freight Broker

Sometimes it takes a good swift kick in the pants to get someone motivated. Sometimes that kick comes in the form of losing your job. When you’re in between jobs, you have an opportunity to take a step back and decide whether you previous career choices have led you down the path where you want to be. If the answer is yes, then fine, find another job and keep on going. For many people, though, the answer is no. For these people, the time may be right to make a change that puts them on the right path.

Often that path includes goals like these:

Huge earnings potential
Be in business quickly
Fast paced, interesting work
Offer services that are always in demand
Be your own boss
Relatively low start-up costs
Ability to work from home

These goals embody the American dream of achieving financial independence through hard work, but they don’t come easy. Jumping into a new business without the right knowledge and training can result in near certain failure. The right skills and a good understanding of what it’s going to take to succeed are absolutely essential for any new business owner. One company that helps to provide the kind of training it takes to be successful is Brooke Transportation Training Systems. Jeff Roach, as a multi-million dollar freight broker himself, founded the company to help others succeed in the field that has helped him live the American Dream.

Freight brokers are the people who match up customers with freight that needs to be transported with trucking companies that have the capacity to carry that freight to its destination. It’s one of the few careers that let you literally work from your own home until you build the business up to the point where need a staff and a professional office. It’s also a business where your success is directly related to the amount of effort you put into it. The training provided by Jeff Roach and his team make it very clear that the freight brokerage business is not one of those fly by night, get rich quick schemes. They’ll lay out in very clear terms exactly what you need to do to be successful in freight brokerage.

Sometimes, students go through the class and decide that they aren’t ready to strike out on their own. For these students, they still walk away with new skill and a respected certification that can help them land a job as a freight brokerage agent for another company. As one of their students, Arcelia M., said, "I’m very pleased. I can work from home doing what I enjoy doing and make decent money. The most important thing I learned is how to start and succeed by first ‘walking’ as an agent and work up to ‘running’ as a broker."

Other graduating students decide to undertake the challenge of running their own operation. Calvin J., another Brooke student said "In six months since completing your class, I just booked my 250th load! Thank you for the great class. It really gave me an inside edge into the world of moving freight." Learn more about freight brokerage at www.brooketraining.com.

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e-Lottery Syndicates

e-Lottery Syndicates Every week millions of people worldwide spend money playing their favourite lotteries with the knowledge that they have a ridiculously remote chance of actually winning the jackpot. However, there is a way of playing in three of the biggest jackpot lottery games in the world with a much greater chance of scooping the top prizes.

The e-Lottery syndicate system was launched in 2002 by the British company, Virtual World Direct (VWD). To date, more than 195,000 individuals from 133 countries have joined one of the e-Lottery syndicates to help boost their lottery winning chances.

So, which lotteries are currently catered for by the e-Lottery syndicate system? The three lotteries presently in the e-Lottery product range are the UK lotto, Euromillions and the Spanish national lottery, El Gordo. Owing to the clever way in which the syndicates have been designed, members really do receive a vastly improved chance of sharing in some lottery cash.

Each UK lotto syndicate has 49 members who share 88 lines in the Wednesday and Saturday draws. With one of the six required numbers guaranteed in every single draw, each e-Lottery UK syndicate enjoys a 733% advantage over everyone buying tickets the normal way.

If you opt to join a Euro Millions syndicate your odds advantage is even greater. With the Euromillions you are typically required to match the five main numbers and two "Lucky Star" numbers to win the jackpot. However, as a Euro syndicate member you only need to match the five main numbers since the two "Lucky Star" numbers are guaranteed in every single draw. As a result, you enjoy a 36 times greater chance of hitting the jackpot compared to the ticket buying public.

The third game in the e-Lottery produce range is the El Gordo which happens to be the largest prize fund lotto in the world. In the December 2008 draw the total cash payout is predicted to be approximately £2.20 BILLION. For people buying El Gordo lottery tickets the odds of securing a cash prize are actually very good indeed at 1 in 6. As a member of one of e-Lottery’s El Gordo syndicates you play with 20 times better odds making a cash prize win almost a certainty.

For the entrepreneurs out there you may be interested to know that e-Lottery also offers a global online affiliate program where you earn on-going commissions for simply introducing individuals to the syndicate system. The great thing is that you continue to earn these commissions month after month for as long as your member(s) remain paid up syndicate subscribers. What’s more, to become an e-Lottery affiliate costs just £9.99 per year!

Come and take advantage of the considerable benefits awaiting you as an e-Lottery syndicate member. Also, check out the affiliate program and the ever increasing ways of making money as the e-Lottery product range broadens.

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Father’s Role in Feeding

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Research has shown that fathers can influence the diets of their families in some important ways. In one study, eighty-nine percent of the mothers served infrequently or eliminated from the family diet entirely those foods that their husbands disliked. In another study, eighty-one percent of mothers surveyed planned meals based on the food preferences and dislikes of their husbands. As a result of such studies, nutritionists now urge fathers to recognize the important effect that food tastes have on the nutritional well-being of their families.

Your food preferences and dietary habits are the first important way you are involved in feeding. A nutritious age-appropriate diet is the very best for your baby. Your role in achieving this is essential.

During pregnancy, you and the baby’s mother probably discussed how you wanted to feed your baby-by breast or bottle. If breastfeeding was your choice, your unswerving support during the time your baby is breastfed is crucial. If bottle-feeding was your choice, being knowledgeable about formula preparation and healthy feeding practices is necessary and valuable. Perhaps your choice was to breastfeed first and bottle-feed later, or to combine the two feeding methods. In any case, your support and involvement with feeding your baby will be helpful to your baby and pleasurable for you.

If your baby is breastfed, you obviously cannot directly provide milk for your baby, although you can give him bottles of expressed milk if there are times when it is inconvenient or impossible for your wife to breastfeed. There are other important ways you can be helpful during feedings. You can bring your baby to his mother for night feedings and then tuck him back in bed later. You can burp the baby after feedings and take the opportunity to enjoy the quiet but alert time he has after feeding.

Many breastfeeding mothers experience sore nipples, fatigue, and doubts about milk supply. Your encouragement and nurturing help are important. In fact, one study has shown a relationship between the father’s support of breastfeeding and its success or failure.

Another important way you can help is to teach other family members about breastfeeding, so they will understand and support this method of feeding. In the past, less was known about the benefits of breastfeeding than is known today, and feeding practices were different.

If your baby is bottle-fed, you can help by actively sharing the feedings with his mother. Make it your responsibility to mix formula in the proper way and to ensure that the feeding equipment is clean and functioning well.

Always hold your baby when you feed him. He will begin to trust that you love him and are able to satisfy his needs. To provide for normal eye muscle development, hold him sometimes in your right arm and sometimes in your left. Hold him so that his head is slightly elevated. Feeding is a flat position is associated with an increased incidence of middle ear infections.

Discontinue feeding your baby when he indicates that he is through. Burp him during and after feedings. The frequency of burping depends on how much air he tends to swallow.

Whether your baby is breast or bottle-fed, you can help by keeping feeding times calm. Run interference with the doorbell and the telephone. Anything you do to reduce tension is beneficial.

When your baby is ready for table foods, you can be involved in many ways. You can help by making mealtime pleasant and happy. Tension during feedings diminishes appetite. Make an effort to indicate pleasure with the variety of foods you offer your baby even if the food does not appeal to you. As tempting as it might be, avoid using food as a reward for god behavior or a special accomplishment.

Never offer your baby junk food or alcohol. Neither is part of a nutritious diet, and each replaces the foods your baby does need for growth and health. In addition, even small amounts of alcohol can be toxic to a young child.

Your involvement with your child’s mealtimes is important. You can have a significant effect on your baby’s health, and your relationship will benefit from the time you spend together.

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Child Choking and Prevention

Choking is the fourth most common cause of accidental death in children. However, for children under one year, it is the most common cause, ranking above even car accidents. In one recent year alone, 440 infants under a year old choked to death.

Children choke easily. Babies put everything they come upon into their mouths. It is a way of exploring. In your baby’s opinion, everything must be tasted as well as looked at and touched. Unfortunately, infants are not well coordinated, and small pieces can work their way too far back into the mouth and then get stuck.

If something gets stuck, one of two things can happen. If the object is the right size, it can completely close off the child’s airway, causing him to be unable to speak or breathe. Unless removed quickly, the object can cause brain damage from lack of oxygen, or even death. If the object was sucked into one of the smaller airways, the child will cough, wheeze, and have trouble breathing. Often such objects must be removed surgically.

Children can choke on anything small enough. Before disposable diapers, safety pins were a major hazard. Now, pieces of toys, balloons [even uninflated ones], and coins are frequent dangers. Some foods, such as hot dogs, grapes, nuts, and hard candies, as well as vitamins and baby aspirin tablets, can cause choking.

The federal government has taken action to prevent pieces of toys from becoming the objects responsible for choking. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has mandatory safety standards, and the Toy Manufacturers of America has voluntary product standards regulating toys with small parts.

Since children choke on many things besides toys, it is your obligation to watch what your child puts in his mouth and to keep dangerous things away.

Preventing Choking

Examine your baby’s toys and clothing for parts that could be easily pulled off and swallowed.
Don’t allow your baby to play with coins, balloons, or other items that could easily be swallowed.
Cut or bite your toddler’s food into bite sized pieces.
Avoid giving a toddler such hard, smooth foods as nuts, carrots, and hard candy. Also avoid foods that may become lodged in your child’s throat, such as hotdogs, potato chips, and popcorn.
Do not give chewable pills or vitamins to children under the age of three.
Teach your child to chew thoroughly, and discourage talking while chewing.
If your child does choke, don’t put your fingers in her mouth- you may push the object further in.
Learn the Heimlich maneuver, or the back-blow/chest-thrust maneuver recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Car Safety and Preventing Infant Deaths

Car accidents are the leading cause of death in children after the first few months of life. Of all deaths due to injury, two thirds are related to motor vehicles. In the one to four year old age group, two thirds of the children who are killed in car accidents are occupants of a car, and one third are pedestrians struck by a car. It has been estimated that eighty-five percent of those deaths and sixty-five percent of those injuries could have been prevented by the use of car seats and seat belts.

Children can be injured by cars in two major ways. Children playing on the sidewalk may be hit by a car that jumps the curb, or they may be struck if they venture into the street. But more commonly, a child is hurt in when a car in which he or she is a passenger is involved in a collision. When a car stops suddenly, the unrestrained passengers continue to move at the original speed until he hits something that stops him. This is usually the interior of the car, but may be the ground if the passenger has been ejected. Children, who are at highest risk of injury in an accident, are those who are held in an adult’s lap. Not only is the child thrown forward into the dashboard, but he is smashed from behind from the weight of the adult. Even if the passenger is belted in, it is nearly impossible to hold onto a child in a crash. For example, to hold on to a ten pound infant in a collision at thirty miles per hour requires the same amount of strength as lifting three hundred pounds one foot off the ground!

To prevent an auto injury to your child, you must address the issue of safety from the point of view of each of the ways in which injury occurs; you have to consider both pedestrian safety and auto safety.

To make sure your child isn’t struck by a car, teach her how to respect the road and to walk defensively. Teach her to play in the yard or on the sidewalk, and to stay away from the street. Try to "keep the eye out" for her. As she gets older, teach her to look both ways before crossing the road. Be sure she knows how to read traffic signals.

To keep your child safe in the car, drive carefully and defensively. Follow the rules of the road. Don’t allow your children to distract you-concentrate on driving. Avoid having any sharp or heavy objects in the car that could be flying missiles in a sudden stop of crash. But the most important precaution doesn’t concern your driving skills, but rather one simple plastic and metal device-a car seat.

Nearly all of the states and the District of Columbia require child restraints in automobiles. Tennessee was the first to require them, in 1977. Use of car seats in Tennessee increased from eight to twenty-nine percent in the two and a half years after the law was enacted. The number of children killed decreased from twenty-two in 1979 to ten in 1981. While states regulate their use, the federal government regulates the construction of car seats. Child seats must meet federal standards for crash protection, standards that are based on dynamic, rather than just static, testing.

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