Memorial Day History

Written By Charlotte Insurance on May 26, 2011. It has 0 comments.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

General John A. Logan
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-B8172- 6403 DLC (b&w film neg.)]

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their “Buddy” Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Since the late 50’s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

On January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of “the last Monday in May”. On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.

To date, there has been no further developments on the bill

Over One Million Drivers may see Huge Rate Increase

Written By Charlotte Insurance on May 20, 2011. It has 0 comments.

Two auto insurance bills in the Senate sponsored and supported by the insurance industry will cause mandatory auto liability insurance rates to skyrocket over the next few years for 1,000,000 North Carolina auto insurance policyholders.

The members of the AIANC represent over 200,000 North Carolina policyholders.  It is our belief that these bills, while beneficial for insurance companies, would be harmful to our customers.

S477 & S490 – Either bill will cause higher rate increases for 16% of all NC policyholders over the next few years than they would receive under the current law.  Auto liability rates for these policyholders are likely to be 30% to 40% higher in a few years than under the current law.

  1. Either bill makes the Commissioner’s approval of the voluntary NC Rate Bureau (NCRB) auto liability rates irrelevant. Senate bill S490 allows insurance companies to raise auto liability insurance rates by up to 30% within 366 days without any approval whatsoever.  Either bill effectively takes away the ability for the elected Commissioner of Insurance to protect NC drivers from excessive rates on the mandatory auto liability insurance they are required by law to purchase.
  2. The insurance industry touts that these bills will lower rates for some North Carolina drivers, however there is absolutely no guarantee from these companies that any customers will really pay less.  Ask them if they can guarantee lower rates if either bill passes!  In fact, we know that auto liability insurance rates will increase dramatically for 1,000,000 policyholders and we know insurance companies will be able to increase rates much faster for all drivers than they can now.
  3. In our state the Insurance commissioner sets a cap on liability rating classifications. The insurance companies cannot charge more, but they can write the policy voluntary at a lower rate under our current system. What these companies really want is the ability to charge higher rates, not lower rates.
  4. After a thorough review of S477 and S490 and talking with our companies, we believe that either bill will have a significant negative financial impact on the NC domestic insurance companies we represent.  They will also adversely impact other small companies that we represent.  In fact, we are very concerned that within a short period of time that two of our three NC domestic companies may not be able to survive in the auto insurance market that these giant out-of-state companies are trying to create.
  5. There is no crisis in the auto insurance market in NC and no immediate changes are necessary.   We believe that rushing either S477 or S490 through the legislature this session will create many unintended consequences that will adversely impact NC drivers and NC domestic insurance companies.  Auto insurance in NC is different than in other states, but it works, and the current environment produces the 8th lowest auto insurance rates in the country.  There is no shortage of auto insurance companies willing to compete in NC.
  6. We urge all NC Legislators not rush any changes to auto insurance through the Legislature this year.  NC drivers cannot afford the insurance industry to pass any bill that will open up the floodgates in NC for higher auto insurance rates.

Preventing Carjacking / Theft

Written By Charlotte Insurance on May 12, 2011. It has 0 comments.

TO MINIMIZE THE DANGER OF BEING CARJACKED:

  1. Think of saving your life first. Only then, think of your car and what’s in it.
  2. If another car bumps your car, stay inside with the windows shut and the door locked and drive to the nearest police or fire station.
  3. Don’t stop at isolated pay phones, cash machines or newspaper machines where you could become a carjacking victim.
  4. Stay alert to people lurking near or moving toward your parked car.
  5. Always keep the windows of your car shut and doors locked, whether you’re in or out of your car.
  6. Park only in well-lighted areas.

TO PREVENT YOUR CAR FROM BEING STOLEN:

  1. Keep your registration card in your wallet instead of your glove compartment.
  2. Use paint or an indelible marker to put the vehicle identification number (VIN) under the engine hood and trunk lid and on the battery. This number is usually found on the dashboard on the driver’s side of the car.
  3. If you have to leave personal property in your car, leave it in the trunk.
  4. Keep your car in a garage and lock the garage door.
  5. Use a security device like a steering wheel lock or a gear shift column lock.

    IF YOUR CAR IS STOLEN, HAVE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION READY TO GIVE TO THE POLICE:

  1. The year, make, model and color of the car.
  2. The approximate time the car was stolen.
  3. A description of anyone you may have seen loitering around your car before it was stolen.
  4. The names of any witnesses.

Tips for Avoiding Identity Theft

Written By Charlotte Insurance on May 3, 2011. It has 0 comments.

IDENTITY THEFT

  • Keep the amount of personal information in your purse or wallet to the bare minimum. Avoid carrying additional credit cards, your social security card or passport unless absolutely necessary.
  • Guard your credit card when making purchases. Shield your hand when using ATM machines or making long distance phone calls with phone cards. Don’t fall prey to “shoulder surfers” who may be nearby.
  • Always take credit card or ATM receipts. Don’t throw them into public trash containers, leave them on the counter or put them in your shopping bag where they can easily fall out or get stolen.
  • Don’t give out personal information. Whether on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet, don’t give out any personal information unless you have initiated the contact or are sure you know who you are dealing with and that they have a secure line.
  • Proceed with caution when shopping online. Use only authenticated websites to conduct business online. Before submitting personal or financial information through a website, check for the locked padlock image on your browser’s status bar or look for “https://” (rather than http://) in your browser window. If you have any concerns about the authenticity of a Web page, contact the owner of the site to confirm the URL.
  • Be aware of phishing and pharming scams. In these scams, criminals use fake emails and websites to impersonate legitimate organizations. Exercise caution when opening emails and instant messages from unknown sources and never give out personal, financial or password related information via email.
  • Make sure you have firewall, anti-spyware and anti-virus programs installed on your computer.These programs should always be up to date.
  • Monitor your accounts. Don’t rely on your credit card company or bank to alert you of suspicious activity. Carefully monitor your bank and credit card statements to make sure all transactions are accurate. If you suspect a problem, contact your credit card company or bank immediately.
  • Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus. A new law that took effect December 1, 2004, entitles you to one free credit report per year. Your credit report contains information on where you work and live, the credit accounts that have been opened in your name, how you pay your bills and whether you’ve been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy. Make sure it’s accurate and includes only those activities you’ve authorized.
  • Place passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, any part of your Social Security number or phone number, or any series of consecutive numbers. If you suspect a problem with your credit card, change your password.
  • Shred any documents containing personal information such as credit card numbers, bank statements, charge receipts or credit card applications, before disposing of them.