December is the most wonderful time of the year. The world is aglow with festive lights reflecting off soft snow. But there come many dangers in celebrating the holidays, and it’s a good idea to know how to combat them.

Carbon Monoxide and Fire

For those with fireplaces or stoves, setting a nice cozy fire is a wonderful way to keep out the cold. The smell of burning firewood promotes a sense of holiday joy as families gather around the warmth. However, there is a dark side to a nice cozy fire. In a poorly ventilated area, carbon monoxide can build up. Carbon dioxide’s much more evil brother, carbon monoxide is virtually undetectable by humans and in large enough doses can render you unconscious, then dead. The best ways to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning are to ventilate your stove or fireplace and to install carbon monoxide detectors in your home.

There is also the really bright side to fire. The side so bright you can hardly look at it as it burns your house down. Leaving fires unattended can, in a worst case scenario, end in a raging inferno. Other contributing factors to winter house fires are dry Christmas trees, overused outlets, and festive candles. In order to avoid a catastrophe, monitor how hot chargers and electric devices are getting, sweep up dead pine needles, and blow out candles before leaving for extended periods of time.

Hypothermia, Bites, and Burns

With winter comes snow. Aside from snowballs, snowmen, and snow forts, snow has one purpose: blocking your driveway. Shoveling is an integral part of winter, especially in Massachusetts. Hypothermia and frostbite are the two main hazards when outside in the snow. Hypothermia (quite literally ‘low heat’) can easily be averted with a heavy coat, gloves, boots, and a hat. If one particular area is exposed to extreme cold for a long enough time, you won’t get full hypothermia, just  frostbite. Frostbite is when your skin and the tissue beneath it literally freezes. Mild cases are best treated with gradual warming. Note: do not submerge a frostbitten limb in hot water. Your skin would be so numb that you wouldn’t feel until it’s too late that your skin has been burned by the high temperature of the water. If feeling doesn’t return within a short period of time, seek medical help. Severe frostbite can cause complications with nerves and infection.

Black Ice

The greatest fear of drivers whenever there is snow is black ice. As if driving with reduced visibility wasn’t enough, frictionless near-invisible patches of black ice litter the roads. If there has recently been any snow, you should be aware that there could be black ice. The only way to see it coming is to watch the road. Black ice appears much shinier than dull, black pavement and will stand out in good lighting. Should the cars in front of you spontaneously spin out and swerve, there is probably a patch of black ice just in front of you. When you do hit it and feel like you’re losing control of your car, DO NOT PANIC. It seems counter intuitive, but braking will only make it worse. Keeping the steering wheel straight, slowly step off the gas and if you feel the car spinning, lightly turn  in the direction you’re spinning. The best way to make it far worse it to panic, slam on the brakes, and try to steer out of it.

Power Loss

In heavy snow and strong wind, telephone poles and wires can snap and break, causing loss of electricity in huge swathes of residential land. Without electricity, you can’t heat your house, you can’t dry clothes, and you can’t cook food. Cold and darkness slowly encroach as night approaches and you have no power. In order to avoid the huge drops in temperature, use a (well-ventilated) fireplace or stove. Enjoy grilled cheese and tomato soup on a candlelit winter night. If you have a generator, use it to power winter essentials like a space heater, lights, and electric blankets. If you have access to either, seek out neighbors, friends, and family who do. Stay with them until power returns and you can go home to a nice, warm house. It’s also important to check on your neighbors and nearby family members to make sure they are okay.

But, all points aside, it’s the holiday season. And while you shouldn’t neglect worrying, you shouldn’t waste every second on it either. Be with friends and family, be jolly and giving, be happy. Bake cookies, wrap presents, go caroling, bake more cookies, go sledding, go skiing, and most important of all, have a happy ChristmaHanuKwanzaakah

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frostbite/basics/definition/con-20034608

http://www.wikihow.com/Drive-on-Black-Ice

It has been almost one month since Election Day, but the tension surrounding American politics is still high. From changing interest rates and newsworthy interviews to questions of Donald Trump’s legitimacy and protests, the unforgettable election of 2016 continues to be unforgettable.

Rob Clarfeld, founder and CEO of Clarfeld Financial Advisors, wrote for Forbes.com last Wednesday to say that interest rates have been climbing since the beginning of the summer but have increased at an even higher rate since the election. Clarfeld explained that Trump’s election caused bond markets to respond negatively because of the newly elected president’s plans for office. Investors are wary that Trump’s plans for infrastructure spending, defense costs, and decreased taxes will lead to economic inflation. Additionally, the Federal Reserve has long been expected to change its policy and increase interest rates. Clarfeld also remarked that Trump’s rhetoric for making the defense of the United States a priority has influenced currency. In anticipation of less foreign trade and increased domestic demand, the US dollar has increased 2.8 percent since the election. If the dollar continues to increase in strength, the prices of domestic goods could become too high for foreign markets, affecting US corporations negatively and bond markets positively.

Another political development since the election was the NPR interview on “The Diane Rehm Show” of a surrogate of Trump, Scottie Nell Hughes. In response to the subject of Trump’s stream of unproven claims throughout his campaign, Hughes stated, “One thing that’s been interesting this entire campaign season to watch is that people say facts are facts. They’re not really facts.” The comment shocked journalists and seemed an attempt to defend Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories — such as Trump’s recently unproven claim that there were millions of illegal voters in the November election. Just this past Friday, Trump sent a questionable tweet saying that Taiwan “CALLED ME,” suggesting his lack of initiative in the controversial interaction, though the Taiwanese press reported that the call was previously scheduled with his consent.

Meanwhile, resistance to Donald Trump’s presidency lingers on among some throughout the country. In Cincinnati on Thursday, protesters outside the US Bank Arena chanted “love trumps hate” while Trump made the first stop on his post-election victory tour. Additionally, the 2016 Green Party nominee, Jill Stein, is advocating for a recount in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. All three of these states are typically Democrat, and the statement Stein released to try to raise money for a Wisconsin recount claimed both “compelling evidence of voting anomalies” and “significant discrepancies in vote totals” in each of the three states. Stein has raised $6.9 million to pay for the three recounts. The recount in Wisconsin began Thursday, while the Michigan and Pennsylvania recounts have not yet begun

Though the next four years under President Donald Trump have yet to unfold, they are likely to make significant history based on the political tension during his campaign and the first several weeks after his election.