Car Insurance

People use the Internet, telephone, magazines and TV advertisements to get information on the best deal on car insurance.

Owning and driving a car means taking on many risks to yourself and others. When a traffic accident happens, damage, injuries, loss or all of these factors may be inflicted upon you and others. Other damages
include loss of your property, fire, theft, vandalism and natural disasters.

Car Insurance protects motorists and drivers against liability in the event of accidents they may cause. It can also provide cover for the motorist's own vehicle.

Many different types of cover are available, ranging from third party cover which protects individuals against liability should they injure a third party or cause damage to a third party's property, but does not provide any cover for the individual's own vehicle or property, through to comprehensive cover, which can offer protection for accidental damage, theft, fire damage as well as liability towards third parties.

Here are 5 steps to follow to find the cheapest deal:

STEP ONE: The easiest way to cut your insurance premiums is to accept a higher voluntary excess. An insurer's standard excess may be £100; but if you meet the first £250 of any claim, you'll see a reduction in your premium. This is simply because you are more of the risk so you get a discount by your insurance company.

STEP TWO: One way to get cheaper insurance premiums is to fit a security device. If you are living in a high-risk which may be known for car crime it would be useful to fit an extra security such as steering lock. This will save you money when your insurance renewal is due and gives you extra peace of mind.

STEP THREE: Adding a named driver to your policy can increase or reduce your premiums depending upon the named drivers age, sex and driving record. When adding a young driver will increase your premiums, particularly with a limited or poor driving record. However, adding a driver over 30 years old with a long and clean driving record can cut premiums, particularly if the named driver is a female.

STEP FOUR: If your annual mileage is, 4,000 miles or less, ask insurers if they offer discounts for agreed mileage restrictions, as some insurance companies do give discounts for restricted mileage.

STEP FIVE: The biggest potential savings come from shopping around. This has been made much easier with the explosion of the internet. There can be massive differences between the lowest and highest car insurance quotes for exactly the same car and driver.

"Old Bridge" of Mostar

Annually, around one million tourists visit Mostar, partly due to the nearby Catholic pilgrimage site, Medjugorje. The city of Mostar's prime attraction is the "Old Bridge" over the Neretva River. The bridge was originally built during the 16th century Ottoman rule, destroyed in the 1993 conflict, and was later overhauled and rebuilt with funding from the World Bank, UNESCO, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the World Monuments Fund. Several countries--including Italy, the Netherlands and Croatia--also provided funds. Many world-renowned figures, including Britain's Prince Charles, attended the "Old Bridge's"opening ceremony in 2004.

His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan receives honorary Canadian citizenship

Parliamentarians have voted to grant the Aga Khan honorary Canadian citizenship in what the prime minister describes as a recognition of his leadership in promoting "development, pluralism and tolerance around the world."

Honorary Canadian citizenship is bestowed by the Governor General and requires the unanimous approval of all voting MPs.

Born in Geneva, Shah Karim al-Hussayni is the fifth person to be named an honorary Canadian citizen.

The Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and is widely recognized for his work against poverty and his promotion of tolerance.

Now 72, he is the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, which works in Asia and Africa and is one of the world's largest private development networks.

The federal government is teaming with the Aga Khan to build the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa, which will promote ethnic, cultural and religious exchange and education.

"Our government appreciates the work of the Aga Khan Development Network to improve the quality of life of people in many of the world's most impoverished nations," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a release Friday.

"In particular, we are grateful for the immense contribution the Aga Khan Development Network is making in Afghanistan, as we work together to help the people of that country build a better future.

"I look forward to welcoming the Aga Khan back to Canada as an honorary citizen, and continuing to work closely with him to improve tolerance, pluralism and development around the world."

The Aga Khan was in Edmonton recently to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Alberta, where he spoke at length about ethics and "the arrogance of colonialism, the rigidities of communism, the romantic dreams of nationalism (and) the naive promises of untrammelled capitalism."

Honorary Canadian citizenship has been given to four others: Swedish diplomat and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg (posthumously in 1985); former South Africa president and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela (2001); the Dalai Lama (2006); and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (2007), a Nobel laureate who has spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest in her native Myanmar.

Micheal Jackson's Legacy

A Star has flashed across our collective inner sky. A genius has left an enduring legacy. He was bigger than life. He was a giant in the entertainment field. He wowed us with his music and his moves. So what is the relevance of Micheal Jackson to our lives?

The first thing that comes to mind is the early childhood discovery of a huge talent for music. Jackson was clearly a gifted entertainer who wasted no time in perfecting his artistry. He was precocious in his art beyond his years. Many have remarked how he sang as if he had years of experience behind him. Of the seven intelligences in Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, Michael had access to two unique intelligences: a musical intelligence which contains the capacity to produce and appreciate rhythm and forms of musical expression, and a bodily-kinesthetic intelligence which demonstrates an ability to control one’s body movements. One might even argue that Michael accessed a third intelligence: a linguistic intelligence which demonstrates a sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms and meaning of words But with this success came some serious problems: a loss of balance – loss of childhood, a stunted education and conflicts with his father, resulting in early parent-child relational issues. These can have a devastating affect on one’s psychology.

From a psychological perspective, Michael had to respond to his childhood trauma of physical and emotional abuse and also to the condition of body dysmorphic disorder. In addition, the loss of a normal childhood was irreparable even though Michael tried so hard to make up for this by entertaining underprivileged and disabled children and their families at his Neverland ranch.

Childhood trauma, intentional or accidental, can result in long term psychological and even physiological disorders. Depending on when in childhood such trauma may have occurred, one can anticipate a loss of self-esteem. If Michael was emotionally abused during what Erik Erikson would identify in his model of human development as the psychosocial stage of the latency years (age 6-11), he did not have an opportunity to develop self-esteem through normal peer interactions, since he did not have the benefit of a normal childhood. In the latency years, an individual needs to resolve the conflict between “industry” and “inferiority” before one progresses to the next stage of human development in the life span. His multitude of adoring fans clearly could not make up for the need for normal emotional and psychological development, which is why Michael was so fixated on his childhood issues.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder historically known as dysmorphophobia is a preoccupation with a perceived defect in appearance and can cause severe psychological distress. Whether this was as a result of the 1986 diagnosis of vitiligo, which is an auto-immune disease that causes a loss of pigmentation, or whether vitiligo was concurrent with his body dysmorphic disorder is unclear. Nevertheless, that Michael was able to avoid social isolation which is a typical response to this condition speaks to his strength and courage to treat it and overcome it, in his own unique way. Individuals with this disorder often pursue and receive general medical, dermatological or surgical treatments to rectify their imagined defects. To his credit, Michael found a way to make this a part of his mythic persona.

The life of a celebrity often reveals an inner wasteland because one spends so much time pleasing the fans and getting stroked by an adoring public. This too can lead to a huge imbalance, even though the positive projections from his fans may have compensated a little for his own experience of self-loathing as reported by his long-time friend, Dr. Deepak Chopra. Chopra also revealed that Michael was suffering from Lupus, an auto-immune disease, although there is one report that suggests he was in remission from this.

This level of deprivation of a cultivated inner life can often lead to depression and a “loss of soul.” Surprisingly, Michael was able to compensate for this to some extent because he was clearly receptive to inner promptings in the creation and expression of his music and dance. His best-selling album “Thriller” may have been the outcome of Michael’s capacity to touch and connect with his shadow side. On the other hand, it is also possible that Michael’s emotional development was arrested in his “genital” psycho-social stage, which runs from adolescence to adulthood. During the genital psychosocial stage, an individual works towards resolution of the conflicts between identity and identity diffusion in adolescence, between intimacy and isolation in young adulthood, and between generativity and self-absorption in adulthood. This perhaps explains his less subtle sexually suggestive moves on stage and his complete lack of personal boundaries with children, especially when he dangled his son from the balcony of a hotel room. The final concert series indicates that Michael was moving into the generativity psycho-social stage of his life.

It does not appear that Michael was able to fully overcome his deeper depressive symptoms because he had to treat some of his somatic symptoms with prescription medications to which he became addicted. Michael had been admitted into various programs for chemical dependence and one wonders whether there was ever a serious consideration to receive consistent psychotherapy for his psychological and emotional well-being. Yet, despite this constant struggle with his inner demons, he was able to engage his world-wide public by bringing joy, ecstasy and a sense of human connection that transcended race, culture and ethnicity.

His lyrics evolved from expressions of romantic love (“I’ll be there”) to self-transformation ("Man in the Mirror") to the unity of humankind (“We are the world”). Deepak Chopra revealed that the music for his final concert tour included environmental themes. So, clearly, despite his many personal trial and tribulations, psychological, legal and financial challenges, Michael was able to give the absolute very best of himself as the King of Pop, and possibly even as a father. He left an indelible impression on the lives of millions of people through his chosen vocation, creative self-expression and self-invention. One might go so far as to say that he achieved a remarkable degree of self-actualization. That is his greatest legacy!