Take head to the article please everyone watch out for your hard earned money!

‘Tis the season to be mindful of your money.

That’s the mantra of charity evaluators, consumer advocates and security experts as unscrupulous retailers and scammers target holiday shoppers nationwide, both online and off. From bogus charities to identity theft to Web sites selling purportedly authentic wares, consumers can quickly lose their seasonal cheer unless basic preventative steps are taken.

Earlier this week, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against one of New York City’s most visible homeless charities — the United Homeless Organization, which solicits donations on numerous street corners. Cuomo said the organization is a sham and that almost all donations purportedly destined for services at shelters and drug treatment centers end up being pocketed by staffers and the group’s founders.

“UHO exploits the good intentions of people who thought that their charitable donations were helping to fund services for the homeless," Cuomo said in a written statement. "Instead, their donations go directly to UHO’s principals and workers, who abused the organization’s tax-exempt status to line their own pockets."

To avoid being taken for a similar ride, Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest independent charity evaluator, suggests you do a little homework before doling out your hard-earned cash.

“People should start with their hearts when they give, but they should also use their heads to make sure that donation is truly going to help,” Berger told FoxNews.com. “It’s critically important.”

Berger strongly advised against making donations to street solicitors and giving money over the phone.

“You could very well be enabling a drug habit or bad behaviors that could actually do more harm than good,” Berger said. “We recommend cutting them a check directly or giving online.”

Charitable organizations should be vetted by visiting evaluation sites like Charity Navigator, Berger said, or by perusing the charity’s Web site to ensure it’s a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

‘You need to look and see if they’re being investigated by anyone,” he said. “You should also call and say, ‘Show me data that indicates you’re having meaningful results in people’s lives.”

Charities that Berger recommends include the Nurse Family Partnership, Harlem Children’s Zone and Youth Villages. Due to the tight economy, Berger said people are looking for more out of their goodwill.

“More and more people are thinking it’s not just a donation, but a social investment that has meaningful results,” he said. “So don’t just give from your heart, use your head too.”

Meanwhile, for those looking to buy gifts for loved ones rather than making donations, the Better Business Bureau recommends brick and mortar shoppers keep wallets or purses snugly beneath their arms or in front pockets. Receipts should also be kept in a wallet rather than stored in a bag that could be swiped if left unattended, and credit card statements should be checked early and often rather than at the end of the month.

Online shopping, where 40 percent of holiday buyers purchased gifts last year, can be trickier, experts say.

According to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research, 10 million people were identity theft victims in 2008, a 22 percent increase from a year earlier. And with shoppers looking to get the best deal possible in a poor economy, this holiday season has the potential to be record-breaking for cybercriminals who have bilked $8 billion from consumers in the past two years, according to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey.

“We find that usually with the holiday season, your scams are going to center around buying presents online,” said Alison Southwick, a spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau. “So you need to be cautious.”

Southwick said BBB officials have noticed a sharp increase in Asian-based Web sites selling seemingly high-end electronics.

“But they only accept payments via wire transfer,” Southwick said. “Right there, that’s a big flag. And of course, you never get the item.”

Southwick also warned against phishing e-mails in which consumers receive a message indicating a problem with an order or the user’s account. In just a few clicks, victims can quickly find themselves on a malicious Web site out to pilfer their financial information.

“Don’t click on any links in the e-mail,” Southwick said. “Pick up the phone and call someone or go directly to their Web site. But don’t just follow the links.”

Holiday e-cards can also bring trouble into inboxes, where worms masked as Hallmark e-cards and McDonald’s and Coca-Cola holiday promotions were discovered last year by security firm McAfee Labs.

“You do need to be very cautious when opening e-cards,” Southwick said. “Check the link and make sure it’s legitimate.”

To be entirely safe, Dave Marcus, director of security research and communications at McAfee Labs, suggested treating every holiday-related e-mail received from now until the end of year with caution.

“During the holiday season, the bad guys know that people are more apt to give more, to be more generous,” Marcus said. “They know people are doing seasonal shopping, so the bad guys take the step of registering and creating fake Web sites. They read the same news as we do and prepare for the holidays and seasonal trends.”

Consumers can also be targeted with invoices and delivery notifications purportedly from reputable retailers like Federal Express or UPS, so they should exercise caution during virtually every transaction this holiday season, which has the potential to be a “record” holiday season for scams, Marcus said.

“People are going to be looking for bargains,” he said. “It all kinds of comes together and the bad guys have done the prep.”

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DEVELOPING: A pair of mass shootings at Ft. Hood military post in Texas left at least 7 dead and as many as 30 wounded Thursday, and one suspected gunman is on the loose, the Army said.

A massive manhunt was under way for the suspect at large, Fox News confirmed, and one person was in custody. The New York Post said that there were two shooters at the Army post massacre; other reports said there were three.

An Army spokesman at the Pentagon said the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Ft. Hood.

The center in a place soldiers go when getting ready to deploy and when returning from deployment for processing issues, paperwork, screening etc. It is not a place where soldiers get anymedical-type treatment.

Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said two shooters were apparently involved. There is no word yet on who they were, nor on the identities of the dead.

The second incident took place at a theater on Ft. Hood, according to Banks.

The FBI said they don’t believe terrorism was involved.

Some media reports said the number of victims remained unclear.

Banks said a motive wasn’t immediately known and it is too soon to tell whether there is any link to battle stress or repeated deployments. Army officials didn’t know whether the victims were civilians or military personnel.

The men were reportedly dressed in Army fatigues, but military officials couldn’t confirm that they were Army personnel.

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the shooting was a terrible tragedy for all of the military families affected.

She said the post is a processing center where soldiers are processed before going to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis told Fox News those at the base are trained for combat and it is not unusual to see armed people there.

The base and area schools were on lockdown after the mass shooting, and all those on the Army post were asked to gather for a head count.

The FBI was going to Ft. Hood to provide assistance.

There have been several previous deadly incidents at Ft. Hood, including a shooting of one soldier by another at a party in July; a rape and fatal shooting of an Army medic at her apartment near the post 11 years ago; and the murder-suicide of a lieutenant by a soldier in September 2008.

KECN/NBC is saying that they are with gunmen in a standoff with MP’s on base…

DEVELOPING: A mass shooting at Ft. Hood military post in Texas has left at least 7 dead and 20 wounded and one suspected gunman is on the loose, officials told Fox News.

A massive manhunt was under way for the suspect at large, Fox News confirmed. One person was in custody. The New York Post said that there were two shooters at the Army post massacre; other reports said there were three.

The attack apparently happened at Ft. Hood’s Soldier Readiness Center. Army officials didn’t know whether the victims were civilians or military personnel.

Other media reports said the number of victims remained unclear.

The men were reportedly dressed in Army fatigues, but military officials couldn’t confirm that they were Army personnel.

The base and area schools were on lockdown after the mass shooting, and all those on the Army post were asked to gather for a head count.

The FBI was en route to Ft. Hood to provide assistance.

There have been several previous deadly incidents at Ft. Hood, including a shooting of one soldier by another at a party in July; a rape and fatal shooting of an Army medic at her apartment near the post 11 years ago; and the murder-suicide of a lieutenant by a soldier in September 2008.

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At Least 7 Dead, 20 Wounded in Shooting at Ft. Hood in Texas

DALLAS – A carjacking led to six school lockdowns, a full-scale search and an accident involving a Dallas police patrol car on Monday morning before the suspect was finally caught.

The whole thing started at 6:45 a.m. when a man pulled a gun on 17-year-old Jennifer Saenz at her home in the 300 block of S. Waverly Drive.

Police say the man stole her 2000 turquoise Mazda Protege and her pink Razor cell phone.

A short time later, the man was spotted on foot near Illinois and Ravinia. As a precaution, DISD put six schools in lockdown in the surrounding area, just as students and parents were arriving for morning classes. The six schools were:

Moreno Elementary – 2115 S. Hampton Road
Cowart Elementary – 1515 S. Ravinia Drive
Henderson Elementary – 2200 S. Edgefield Ave
Salazar Elementary – 1120 S. Ravinia Drive
Stockard Elementary – 2300 Ravina Drive
Hall Elementary – 2120 Keats Drive

Students were allowed into the schools, but parents were kept out.

Finally, just before 9 a.m., police spotted the suspect near Illinois and Wilbur and gave chase.

One of the responding officers turned on her lights and sirens to get through the intersection of Brooklyn Ave. and Oak Cliff Blvd.

But unfortunately, a motorist driving a Buick Armada didn’t see the officer and drove into the intersection. The officer’s squad car T-boned the Armada, knocking it on its side.

The driver was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, and the DPD officer was treated at the scene.

Other officers captured the carjacking suspect and are questioning him now.

Teen Carjacked En Route to School

Scientists have found that psychopaths who murder and rape others have faulty connections between the part of the brain that deals with emotions and handles impulses and decision-making, Reuters reported.
The British scientists observed psychopaths who had committed murder, manslaughter, multiple rape, strangulation and false imprisonment, and found that roads linking the two crucial brain areas had "potholes," while those of non-psychopaths were in good shape.
Dr. Michael Craig of the Institute of Psychiatry at London’s King’s College Hospital said the study opens up the possibility of developing treatments for dangerous psychopaths in the future, and may have profound implications for doctors, researchers and the criminal justice system.

Study Shows Psychopaths Have Faulty Brain Connections – Science News – red Orbit

The Senate voted to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court today, making her the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice and just the third woman to sit on the court.

This is great news for all Hispanics, Mexican Americans throughout the United States

Senate Confirms Sonia Sotomayor as Nation’s First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice