Is Social Networking Source of Medical Misinformation?

Cited: ABC News

Social networking site websites like leader have become powerful tools in the search for information opinions that include things from celebrity gossip to natural disasters.  However, a new study that shows such sites could be potentially dangerous when it comes to medical advice and misinformation being given to millions of people.

A new study in the American Journal of Infection Control shows that over a four-month period in 2009, hundreds of Twitter users posted casual misinformation about antibiotics — which, in turn, reached more than a million of their followers.

“When we looked at tweets … we found that there are some basic categories like general mentioning of antibiotics or complaints about side effects and things like that, but there was also a category that was pretty interesting, where people were indicating misuse or misunderstanding of antibiotics,” study co-author Daniel Scanfeld told “Good Morning America.”

“And we found that to be really interesting, because one tweet indicating misuse of antibiotics could be spread potentially to hundreds of thousands of people via the Twitter network.”

While overall around 2 percent of the studied tweets contained misinformation, Scanfield said that even a single inaccurate tweet is broadcast on average to “tens of thousands of people.”

For example, Scanfeld said one tweet about antibiotics for a cold — which is not their intended use — reached around 850,000 people. In other cases, the study found people often tweeted about not finishing their antibiotics or offering to share them with others, a big no-no when it comes to medications.

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How to Avoid Misinformation on the Web

Tip 1: Confirm All Medical Information with a Reputable Source.  It’s fine to look online for answers to medical questions, but it’s crucial to verify what you find with a reputable source, such as your doctor.

Tip 2: Be Wary of Any Posting That’s Selling Something.  Be extra cautious if any postings or tweets are selling something. Some product claims have no basis in reality.

Tip 3: Know the Source!  Take a look at the Web site ending. Remember that “.com” Web sites are for-profit, “.edu” are educational sites and “.gov” are from the government. Many disease specific Web sites or medical association Web sites are “.org”. Get to know a few sites and bookmark them so you can go back easily.

Tip 4: Check Legitimate Web Resources.  Some online resources can be good sources for basic information you can consult in addition to talking with your doctor.

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My Take: I do not like Twitter.  The reason is very simple, social networking like Twitter takes a personal touch out of human relationships.  I wonder, if somebody does get bad advice on Twitter, could they be sued?  If they can, people are going to be looking into injury attorneys a lot more.  I think people who do not have a medical license and give bad medical advice should be held accountable in one way or another even if it means hiring personal injury attorneys to get compensation.

Just because somebody has a computer, it doesn’t mean they have to be giving advice on anything.  You do not know who you are talking to or what kind of situation they are in to be able to give them good advice.  Maybe it should be the NYC computer service or host server that should be held responsible.  That would be a matter for legal brains to figure out.

Getting medical advice over the Internet is just as bad as asking for computer help New York from someone who doesn’t know anything about computers.  Would you actually trust someone you don’t know to give you advice about your computer?  Then why would you ask someone you don’t know format will advice that affects your life?

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Alcala Sentenced to Death after 30 Years

Cited: Associated Press

Finally, three weeks after a jury recommended death for the 66-year-old man, a judge sentenced serial killer Rodney Alcoa to death before hearing emotional testimony from the families of the four women and a 12-year-old girl he strangled in the 1970s.  Our club was convicted last month of five counts of first-degree murder after bizarre and surreal trial.

After the sentencing, Bruce Barcomb, the brother of victim Jill Barcomb, begged Alcala to admit to the murders to help family members heal.

“There is murder and rape and then there is the unequivicable carnage of a Rodney Alcala-style murder,” he said. “Give up your debt Rodney: all victims, all states, all occurrences. Own your truth.”

Alcala acted as his own attorney during the trial and unveiled a rambling defense that included questioning the mother of one of his victims, playing an Arlo Guthrie ballad and showing a clip from the 1970s TV show “The Dating Game.”

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After the verdict, authorities released more than 100 photos of young women and girls found in Alcala’s possession in hopes of linking him to other unsolved murders around the country. Authorities from New Hampshire to Washington are now trying to determine if the UCLA graduate may have killed in their states.

Alcala has been sentenced to death twice before in the 1979 murder of young Robin Samsoe, but those verdicts were overturned on appeal. Prosecutors refiled charges in that case and added the four other murders in 2006 after investigators linked them to Alcala using DNA samples and other forensic evidence.  Those cases, which had gone unsolved for decades, went on trial for the first time this year.

The 12-year-old Samsoe disappeared on June 20, 1979, while riding a friend’s bike to ballet class in Huntington Beach in Orange County. Her body was found 12 days later in Angeles National Forest, where it had been mutilated by wild animals.

Alcala was arrested a month after Samsoe’s disappearance when his parole agent recognized him from a police sketch and called authorities. He has been in custody ever since.

He was first tried in Samsoe’s murder in 1980. Prosecutors added the murders of the four women in 2006 after investigators discovered forensic evidence linking him to those crimes, including DNA found on three of the women, a bloody handprint and marker testing done on blood Alcala left on a towel in the fourth victim’s home.

Alcala was convicted on Feb. 25, and also found true special-circumstance allegations of rape, torture and kidnapping, making him eligible for the death penalty.

During the guilt phase of trial, Alcala played a seconds-long clip of himself on a 1978 episode of “The Dating Game.” He said the grainy clip proved that he was wearing a gold-ball earring almost a year before Samsoe was killed.

Prosecutors said the earring, found in a small pouch with other earrings in a storage locker Alcala had rented, belonged to Samsoe and that Alcala had taken it as a trophy. They also found the DNA of another victim of Alcala on a rose-shaped earring in the same pouch.

During the penalty phase, the trial took another bizarre twist when Alcala played Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 song “Alice’s Restaurant,” in which the narrator tries to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War by trying to persuade a psychiatrist that he’s unfit for the military because of his supposed extreme desire to kill.

“I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth,” the song’s narrator sings. “Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean: kill, kill, kill, kill.”  The song prompted Samsoe’s brother to stalk out of the courtroom when it was played.

Rodney Alcala was also charged with killing Jill Barcomb, 18, who had just moved to Los Angeles from Oneida, N.Y.; Georgia Wixted, 27, of Malibu; Charlotte Lamb, 32, of Santa Monica; and Jill Parenteau, 21, of Burbank in addition to Samsoe.

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My Take: We need to improve our parole system considering this man was on parole when he started his killing spree.  One thing is for sure, he definitely should have had a Cornwall criminal lawyer to assist in his defense.  What is the saying, “a lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client”?  I think it’s something like that.  The verdict shows the truth.  He definitely didn’t need a Toronto drug lawyer that’s for sure.

Although, he probably could use a Monmouth County fraud lawyer for imitating a human being.  Because I just cannot see how any human being can do such a thing.  I don’t think that even a Manasquan NJ criminal defense lawyer could have gotten him off unless they claimed insanity.  I do know one thing, the man thought he was on a stage performing for an audience.  One of his problems was that the court does not have seating risers and there is no stage that requires stage skirting.  I do know one thing, stage or no stage a barricade was required in the courtroom.

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Will Homebuyer Tax Credit Be Extended?

Cited: Time

The tax credit worth up to $8000 for first-time homebuyers and $6500 for folks who already own a home must have a contract in place by April 30 and be closed by the end of June because it is coming to an end.  The federal homebuyer tax credit was meant to spur demand in the housing market and may be extended once again.

Much has happened since the last time this deadline loomed, people are rushing to buy houses. Also like last time: there’s talk of hanging on to the credit for a bit longer. But it might surprise you who thinks that’s a good idea and who doesn’t.

Consider this passage from a recent NYT story:

Arguments for extending the tax credit a second time are just beginning. Robert Shiller, a professor of economics at Yale and co-developer of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller housing price index, is an early advocate. He thinks the credit was a bad idea that nevertheless the market cannot do without.

“You don’t make drug addicts go cold turkey,” Mr. Shiller said. “The credit interferes with the market in an arbitrary way, but ending it now would be psychologically powerful. People will be in a bad mood about buying a house.” He advocates phasing it out gradually.

In some states, worries about the housing market are trumping fiscal considerations. They are adopting or extending tax credits or other supportive measures in hopes of bringing the market to life.

The prime example of state action is found in California, but other places, such as New Jersey and South Carolina, are stepping in too.

On the other side of the argument are—oddly—housing lobbyists. A spokesman for the National Association of Realtors has said his group won’t angle for another extension. TIME’s Janet Morrissey recently heard the same thing from another one-time booster:

Jay Brinkmann, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, says he would not like to see the program extended a second time. “They work best if they’re somewhat rare and short-lived,” he says of such programs.

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What’s up with that? It’s not as though all is suddenly sunny in the housing market.

Part of the pivot may have to do with the realization that political willpower has left the room. Even Johnny Isakson, the Senate’s biggest fan of the tax credit the first two times around, has said he wouldn’t support another extension. Why waste time and money pushing for something that isn’t likely to happen?

Another possibility: it’s clear that these tax credits just aren’t doing much for the market. Last fall, a Deutsche Bank report estimated that only about 5% of home sales could be attributed to the tax credit—the other 95% would have happened anyway. Even with that sort of analysis out there, the extension was passed, and the credit was expanded to many current owners. The Deutsche Bank report did acknowledge that the credit also had an impact by boosting consumer sentiment and home-buyer psychology.

It may be the expectations are waning because we have had that much more time to set what the homebuyer tax credit.  Industry observers have also noted that the extension has drummed up fewer sales than the original credit had.  In fact, it makes sense that most ready buyers jumped on the credit the first time around because they did not know it was going to be extended.

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My Take: I do hope the day extend the tax credit.  The reason I do is very simply that I have just recently found out that I can get my first home on a limited income.  I am disabled and my income isn’t as large as the average person.  That means because of the housing market and all the foreclosures I can now afford to get my first home.  The tax credit will help me save money for the future.

I never tried to purchase my own home before because I’ve heard so many stories about people needing a real estate attorney resolve their sale.  There is no way I could afford an attorney and get a home.  I have heard other stories where people had to get a construction accident lawyer because somebody got hurt while building their new home.  The number of horror stories about first-time home buyers or builders can be very discouraging.

Because there’ve been so many home foreclosures, and the prices of those homes being so low, I am now able to afford my first home and the tax credit would help me keep that home in the future.  I am not looking for a home that has one of those fancy decorative door entrances.  I just wanted to have a front door.  In fact, I do not care if it needs a little fix-up work as long as I own it.

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Will Military Give Benefits To Gay Soldier Partners?

Cited: AP

Once the military allows gays to serve openly, they will face yet another question of whether gay partners will be entitled to military benefits just as straight partners do.

Momentum appears to be building for ending the ban on gays in the military. New rules ordered March 25 by Defense Secretary Robert Gates make it harder to discharge men and women under the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” His decision is intended as a stopgap measure as Congress weighs whether to go along with President Barack Obama’s request to repeal the law.

Since the draft ended in 1973, spousal benefits have increasingly been used as an incentive to recruit and retain an effective force. Today, more than half of all troops sport a wedding ring.

Benefits for married service members include college tuition for a spouse and the right of a spouse to be at a wounded service member’s bedside. Spouses also have access to military health care and commissaries worldwide, and married service members receive better housing and even extra pay when they go to war.

The ticket to qualifying for those benefits is a marriage certificate. Heterosexual couples have a choice whether to marry, but same-sex marriages are legal in only five states and Washington, D.C. Whether same-sex partnerships would be recognized by the military and what benefits might be afforded gay couples would become issues if the ban were lifted.

“It will be a whole complex row of dominoes that will fall as a result of this,” said Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow for policy studies at the conservative Family Research Council.

Already, Gates has included the issue of benefits in a review of how to lift the repeal, which is due Dec. 1.

Repealing the ban without offering same-sex partner benefits would be like telling gay service members they are equal but not giving them all the advantages of service, said Tiffany Belle, 33, of Long Beach, Calif., a lesbian and former sailor. “You’re basically letting us be free being ourselves in the military, but then you’re not letting us reap the benefits.”

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Nathaniel Frank, a senior research fellow at the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said it’s unrealistic to think the military would be out front of the rest of the government in offering benefits to unmarried partners.

“They don’t do it for straight people, and they’re very unlikely to do it for gay people,” Frank said.

But, in addition to repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Obama has called for getting rid of the Defense of Marriage Act and has moved to extend some federal benefits to same-sex partners.

Obama has approved small changes in benefits available to same-sex couples who work for the federal government, such as visitation and dependent-care rights. The State Department extended benefits to gay diplomats, such as the right for their domestic partners to hold diplomatic passports and for paid travel to and from foreign posts.

Larry Korb, a senior fellow at the Democratic-led Center for American Progress, who served as an assistant secretary of defense in the early 1980s, said what the military would have to work through is similar to what the State Department and some federal agencies have done.

“My own personal view is that if they want to make it happen, they can,” Korb said.

U.S. military officials are concerned that recruitment might suffer if they open the door to gay service members and their families. They worry that the Southern, Christian base from which the military relies heavily to fill its ranks will resist the change.

But if they don’t adequately address the benefits issue, it could lead to gay service members leaving the military because there’s no provision for caring for their families, said Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for the veterans group AMVETS.

“They won’t be on equal footing as their heterosexual counterparts,” Gallucci said.

Some repeal proponents say that lifting the ban should be the focus, not the what ifs related to benefits. They say discussions about whether the Pentagon would recognize gay troops’ partners aren’t relevant now.

“Let’s get rid of the ban first and then look at those issues,” said Kevin Nix, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which seeks to repeal the law.

Frank, who has written a book about the policy, said opponents of repeal use a “thorny questions” strategy to make the process of lifting the ban seem far more complicated than it is by bringing up issues like benefits.

“If I got deployed, and she wasn’t able to get all the benefits as another married couple, there’s not really a point,” stated Melanie Costa, 34 of Franklin, Massachusetts.  Melanie is in Iraq veteran that left the military after four years in the Marines, six years in the Army reserves, to marry her partner in Massachusetts where gay marriage is legal.  She went on to say that it’s the repeal is distraught that she would reenlist as long as her wife could get benefits.

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My Take: Homophobia, the fear of homosexuals is what is really delaying the recognition of gays and lesbians in the military.  There are so many military personnel that are afraid in homosexuals around them, that they will change them in some way or even make them homosexual.  The act of homosexuality is contagious, which is absolutely ridiculous.

This is as bad as fighting gay marriages.  A marriage is between two people who love each other and want to make a life commitment to each other.  It should make any difference if they are the same sex or not.  The same thing goes for a gay man in uniform, he joined to fight for his country and it should make any difference whether his sexual partners are the same sex or not.

What is this going to do to America?  Well, more people will need a divorce lawyer if gay marriages go the same way as heterosexual ones do in our society.  And if they happen to have children they will also need a child support lawyer.  If they decide to try to work it out they might need a divorce mediator to work with them and may be resolved their issues.  A divorce mediator can also help them decide who gets what if they can’t resolve their issues.

Of course, not all marriages require an Austin TX divorce law attorney when a divorce is imminent.  A Georgetown family law attorney can explain the process of divorce without going to court.  Now if you throw in military benefits into a divorce, it could get a little bit more difficult.  A friend of mine who would been married for 20+ years was eligible to receive medical and percentage of retirement pay when she divorced her husband.

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Earth’s Seasons Scientifically Explained

Cited: MSNBC.com

Many people do not realize how powerful a force the seasons our in our lives.  The seasons affect everything we do, the foods we crave, the clothes we wear and many times the moods we are in.  Once again, the seasons officially change from winter to spring at the end of March.  What makes it seem strange that in the Northern Hemisphere spring is beginning however in the Southern Hemisphere autumn is beginning.  This is because of the planets tilt that dictates the cycle of spring in our.

What is it that causes the change in seasons?

The ability to predict the seasons — by tracking the rising and setting points of the sun throughout the year — was key to survival in ancient times. Babylonians, the Maya and other cultures developed complex systems for monitoring seasonal shifts. But it took centuries more to unravel the science behind the seasons.

Nicolai Copernicus (1473-1543) radically changed our understanding of astronomy when he proposed that the sun, not Earth, was the center of the solar system. This led to our modern understanding of the relationship between the sun and Earth.

We now know that Earth orbits the sun elliptically and, at the same time, spins on an axis that is tilted relative to its plane of orbit. This means that different hemispheres are exposed to different amounts of sunlight throughout the year. Because the sun is our source of light, energy and heat, the changing intensity and concentration of its rays give rise to the seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall.

Solstices and equinoxes

The seasons are marked by solstices and equinoxes — astronomical terms that relate to Earth’s tilt.

The solstices mark the points at which the poles are tilted at their maximum toward or away from the sun. This is when the difference between the daylight hours and the nighttime hours is most acute. The solstices occur each year on June 20 or 21 and Dec. 21 or 22, and represent the official start of the summer and winter seasons.

The vernal equinox and autumnal equinox herald the beginning of spring and fall, respectively. At these times of the year, the sun appears to be directly over Earth’s equator, and the lengths of the day and the night are equal over most of the planet.

On March 20 or 21 of each year, the Northern Hemisphere reaches the vernal equinox and enjoys the signs of spring. At the same time, the winds turn colder in the Southern Hemisphere as the autumnal equinox sets in.

The year’s other equinox occurs on Sept. 22 or 23, when summer fades to fall in the north, and winter’s chill starts giving way to spring in the south.

From year to year, there is always some variability in the equinoxes and solstices because of the way Earth’s changing tilt matches up with its orbit around the sun. This year, the precise moment of the March equinox came at 1:32 p.m. ET Saturday. That’s the moment when the sun was exactly overhead, as seen from the point on Earth’s equator directly facing the sun at that time.

Effect on climate

Here’s how the seasonal change affects the weather: Around the time of the June solstice, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun and the Northern Hemisphere is starting to enjoy summer. The density of the solar radiation is higher because it’s coming from directly overhead — in other words, the sun’s rays are concentrated over a smaller surface area. The days are longer, too, meaning that more radiation is absorbed in northern climes during the 24-hour cycle. Another factor that may come into play is that the radiation takes a somewhat shorter path through the energy-absorbing atmosphere before striking the earth.

At the same time that the Northern Hemisphere is entering summer, the South Pole is tilted away from the sun, and the Southern Hemisphere is starting to feel the cold of winter. The sun’s glancing rays are spread over a greater surface area and must travel through more of the atmosphere before reaching the earth. There are also fewer hours of daylight in a 24-hour period.

The situations are reversed in December, when it’s the Southern Hemisphere that basks in the most direct rays of the sun, while the Northern Hemisphere receives less dense solar radiation for shorter periods of time.

Although the solstices represent the pinnacles of summer and winter with respect to the intensity of the sun’s rays, they do not represent the warmest or coldest days. This is because temperature depends not only on the amount of heat the atmosphere receives from the sun, but also on the amount of heat it loses due to the absorption of this heat by the ground and ocean.

We do not feel the coldest days of wonder or the hottest days of summer until the ground and oceans absorb enough heat to reach an equilibrium with the temperature of the atmosphere.

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My Take: I learned this in high school.  It really amazes me what a lot of people do not know about the changing seasons.  Everybody knows that in autumn the leaves of trees change color in most parts of the country.  That is why if you’re thinking of a Mediterranean yacht charter as a vacation, you should know what time of year is best.  The same thing goes for Caribbean charters, you need to know the right time of year to do it.

If you’re taking a charter vacation, it’s easy to figure out when to do it when you take a Key West FL fishing charter because it’s in the United States.  From what I understand Key West charter fishing is absolutely fantastic.  The thing of it is, in Key West you can practically fish year-round.

Then you have those people who have the money to purchase Spain properties and be able to spend the winter months in Spain and the summer months at home to stay warm year-round.  So if you have the money, get yourself a piece of Marbella real estate and spend your winter staying warm.

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Catholicism Faces More Than Sex Scandals

Cited: MSNBC

Catholicism is in turmoil as priests avoid the mention of the Pope Benedict XVI in their Masses.  People stopped going to confession as one woman states she sees priests as more flawed than she is.  Even some British protesters are calling for the pontiff to resign.

As the faithful fill churches this Holy Week, many Roman Catholics around the world are finding their relationship to the church painfully tested by new revelations of clerical abuse and suggestions Benedict himself may have helped cover up cases in Germany and the U.S.

There are fears that for those whose commitment is already wavering, the scandal could be the final blow, and a growing chorus is clamoring for the church to embrace full transparency, take a hard line against pedophiles, and reconsider the rule of priestly celibacy.

“There’s too many victims, and too much lying from the church about what really happened,” said Martin Sherlock, a Catholic newspaper vendor in Dublin, Ireland.

Experts say the church is facing a crisis of historic proportions.

“This is the type of problem that arises really once in a century, I think, and it might even be more significant,” said Paul Collins, an Australian church historian and former priest.

‘Incompetent people’

Collins, 69, said the abuse controversy was not mentioned by the priest in his own church near Canberra on Palm Sunday, but that the congregation discussed it afterward outside.

“People are outraged really, they’re furious with the complete failure of the church’s leadership and their view would be that we are led by incompetent people,” Collins said.

That view was echoed by many Catholics interviewed around the world by The Associated Press in recent days, although the pope also had defenders.

One of them was John Ryan, a retired glue factory worker, who said he was impressed by the letter Benedict wrote to the Irish faithful earlier this month in which he chastised Irish bishops.

“I was talking to my parish priest last weekend, and we were reading the pope’s letter, and he told me: This pope is the most intelligent pope we’ve had in the last thousand years,” said Ryan, 66, after a Mass in Dublin. “I couldn’t disagree with that. I don’t really think we could do better than with Benedict. I know they’re supposed to be infallible, but I’d say most Catholics today would accept that nobody’s perfect — not even the pope.”

But across the Atlantic, Jasmine Co said her faith in the church was badly shaken.

The 56-year-old nurse, who recently moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, said she has stopped confessing her sins to priests, and is turning to God directly.

“I don’t believe in confession to the priest because I don’t know if that priest is more of a sinner than I am,” Co said after attending a Palm Sunday service in central Philadelphia.

On Sunday in London, about 50 protesters staged a demonstration calling on the pope to resign — something that hasn’t happened in 700 years.

Church of Christ, not ‘Lord Pope’

The criticism is also coming from pulpits. Udo Fischer, an Austrian priest known for his liberal views, avoids mentioning Benedict and other church leaders by name during his Masses — at least until he sees stronger signals of remorse from the Holy See.

“We always stress that this is the church of Jesus Christ — that of the Lord Jesus and not that of the Lord Pope,” Fischer said after a Palm Sunday service in his parish in Paudorf, a village near Vienna.

Parishioners young and old squeezed into pews in Fischer’s modern and airy church clutching bunches of pussy willows blessed by the priest.

Traditionally Catholic Austria, shaken by clergy abuse claims in past years and again in recent weeks, risks a drop in already dwindling support for the church if no concrete action is taken to prevent further abuse and cover-ups, says Regina Polak of the University of Vienna’s Institute for Practical Theology.

“The situation is very fragile right now,” Polak said. “The potential for frustration is high.”

In the pope’s native Germany, the Roman Catholic diocese in the western city of Trier said Monday that 20 of its current and former priests had been accused “in recent weeks” of sexual abuse.

The allegations involved incidents from the 1950s to 1990, AFP reported. Ten of the accused priests have since died and another two have retired.

The BBC reported that the church was launching a hotline for German abuse victims.

In Spain, a heavily Catholic country where secular lifestyles are eroding church attendance, a coalition of more than 100 liberal-minded lay and clergy-based groups called the Vatican’s handling of the scandal “irresponsible and insufficient,” saying it failed to “put itself firmly on the side of the victims.”

In Norway, Oslo’s Bishop Bernt Eidsvig told Catholics in a letter last week that “the culture of silence that certain bishops advised is a betrayal.”

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Perhaps most ominous is the threat to the pope’s own authority.

David Gibson, author of “The Rule of Benedict,” a biography of the pope, said the criticism focusing on Benedict puts the “the mystique of the papal office” in peril.

“And above all, it diminishes his credibility, his ability to convince people of his message, to have people listen to him. It distances many Catholics, I think, even further from the institutional hierarchical church,” said Gibson.

Even as Easter Week began, anxiety was heard in many places, with people struggling to draw a line between the crimes of some priests and their own deep attachment to communities and the beliefs that sustain them.

“At this point in my life I wouldn’t leave the church for somebody else’s sins,” said Linda Faust, 56, after a Mass in Greendale, Wisconsin — the state where the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy was accused of molesting some 200 boys at a school for the deaf. Benedict, at the time Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is linked to a decision in the 1990s not to defrock Murphy.

Instead, Faust said that she and her husband pray for the child victims, the abusive priests and the archbishops who let them transfer to other parishes.

A key focus for those seeking church reform is celibacy — a tradition dating to Christianity’s early days but only made mandatory in the 11th century. Both Collins in Australia and Bishop Geoffrey Siundu, a former Catholic priest in Kenya, said the rule should go.

Siundu now heads the Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ in Kenya, said the celibacy rule has driven 30 other ex-priests to join his church.

Retired Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini also believes mandatory chastity for churchmen should be thought over to help the church regain lost trust.

Martini, the former archbishop of Milan, told Austria’s Die Presse newspaper that only through an open discussion can the church regain its credibility.

Church ‘will survive’

Kathrin Radelmayer, 24, attended Mass in Munich, where Ratzinger’s handling of a case when he was archbishop there has been questioned. She said she was sticking with the church even though many of her friends and relatives are distancing themselves now.

“It is such a shock for the church, but the church has withstood a lot in its 2,000 years and I think that it will survive this as well,” Radelmayer said.

Marina Buendia, a 22-year-old nurse from Madrid, went to St. Peter’s Square in Rome for the Pope’s Palm Sunday Mass. She defended the church.

“The news of these cases has come to the Vatican far too late for the Vatican to be held responsible,” she said. “I think that the Vatican has accepted the problem, which is a step in the right direction. We are both very religious and feel a very strong personal bond with the pope, which would never be affected by such scandals. As young Catholics, we feel welcome and included by the church.”

“I’ve had a lot of disappointments over the years, and I’m hanging by a thread,” Schweitzer said. “I keep coming back for the community — the way we support each other in so many ways. Do you give up on that? Or do you stay in it and fight for justice? I think that’s where a lot of us are at now.”

One 45-year-old English teacher, Teresa Schweitzer, said that her disenchantment over other matters was compounded by the handling of the abuse cases.  Those matters include women denying leadership roles.  Watching many of the Catholic priests and activists helping the poor and pursuing social justice has given her comfort recently.

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My Take: I am one of those people who do not believe that a priest has the right to forgive anyone, let alone another priest.  God is the only one that has that right!  As for these abuse cases, the church has been asking for it for years.  It has been medically proven that men need that release because it releases hormones into their bloodstream that they need to be healthy.  Yet, a priest has to practice abstinence.  I was told by someone who is very well versed in Catholic history that the only reason priests are like that is because of one Pope was a misogynist and declared that all priests should not partake in that particular activity.

That is like telling someone from the Deep South they cannot fly Confederate flags or even telling the average American that they cannot have a flag American.  You are asking for something that is almost impossible to accomplish.  Note that I said “almost”, not impossible.  I also know that there are some priests who have the intestinal fortitude to request help if they have these types of tendencies.

When a man studies to be a priest, it is nothing like taking New York motorcycle classes is the study of Catholicism, the Bible and religious history.  Of course, that is not to say that a priest cannot take a motorcycle driving course in NY if they have a driver’s license.

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New Effort to Shrink Home Loans

Cited: AP

On March 26, the Obama administration announced a plan to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans.  This comes after months of criticism that it has not done enough to prevent foreclosures.

The multifaceted effort will allow people who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth to get new loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, a government agency that insures home loans against default.

That would be funded by $14 billion from the administration’s existing $75 billion foreclosure-prevention program. It could spark criticism that the government is shouldering too much risk by taking on bad loans made during the housing boom.

The plan would also enable the borrowers’ existing mortgage companies to receive incentives to lower their principal balances.

To be eligible for the FHA refinancing program, borrowers who owe more than the value of their homes, known as being “under water,” must not have fallen behind on their existing mortgage payments.

Separately, the program also would reduce monthly payments for unemployed homeowners for up to six months.

The administration cautioned that the plan isn’t intended to stop all foreclosures or assist all troubled homeowners.

“There’s no intention here of tackling what may be 10 to 12 million foreclosures over the course of the next three years,” said Diana Farrell, a White House economic adviser.

Meet original target

Instead, officials said, the goal is to make it more likely the administration will meet its original target, announced last year, of assisting 3 million to 4 million struggling homeowners.

That would be “enough to provide help to those for whom help is worthwhile … and to provide some kind of stability in the market.”

The plan won’t assist investors and speculators or “Americans living in million dollar homes or defaulters on vacation homes,” an administration fact sheet said.

Some homeowners will not be able to afford to stay in their homes because they bought more than they could afford, officials said.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimated the plan could help an additional 1 million and 1.5 million homeowners avoid foreclosure. That compares with about 4.5 million already in foreclosure proceedings or 90 days delinquent on their mortgages, he said.

But preventing even a fraction of potential foreclosures could help stem the slide in home prices. That would encourage those who are under water to keep paying their mortgages as prices stabilize.

“The changes are wide-ranging and significant and have the real potential for bringing the foreclosure crisis to a much quicker end,” Zandi said.

It is the latest effort by the Obama administration to tackle the foreclosure crisis which has continued to grow. Home foreclosures have soared despite the administration’s effort to prevent foreclosures, a complex and problem-plagued endeavor involving more than 100 mortgage companies. Only 170,000 homeowners have completed that process out of 1.1 million who began it over the past year.

Dubious

“We remain dubious about government mortgage modification efforts,” wrote Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with Concept Capital’s Washington Research Group. “So far none have lived up to expectations and we see little reason to believe the latest effort will turn out any different.”

The plan announced Friday will also require the mortgage companies participating in the administration’s existing foreclosure prevention program to consider slashing the amount borrowers owe. They will get incentive payments if they do so.

It also includes three to six months of temporary aid for borrowers who have lost their jobs. And there will be additional payments designed to give banks an incentive to reduce payments or eliminate second mortgages such as home equity loans — a problem that has blocked many loan modifications.

The plan will also allow lenders to refinance mortgages that are under water with a new loan backed by the FHA. Lenders will have to reduce the first mortgage by at least 10 percent. And the combined total of second mortgages and other liens cannot be more than 115 percent of the current value of the home.

Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the four big holders of second mortgages, will participate in the government’s program to modify second mortgages after they were pressured by the Treasury Department.  After being delayed for months, the program is ready to go now that the major players are on board.

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My Take: Of course, those banks did not want to be part of this program!  The program means they could lose money on any Louisville KY mortgage or commercial mortgage loans.  And that is something that no bank wants to do, lose money.  As it is, they have set interest rates on credit cards sky-high.

I just realized that commercial mortgages may not be involved in this program.  I think it only involves private home ownership.  I could be wrong!  But I do know that there are a lot of people that are looking for debt settlement services in an effort to keep their home.  I read somewhere that more people are trying to get into a debt settlement program just to reduce their credit card in an effort to save their home.  Credit cards will get you in trouble every time!  I know!

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Long Island Exterior Painting

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Couponing Competition Proves Coupons Save Money

Cited: ABC news

Most people shop 2-3 times a month, others bargain shop every week and then there is the couponers who bargain shop.  Then you have the extreme couponer who is a breed of 70 shopper that goes beyond just clipping the coupons.

Meet the masters of extreme coupon shopping.

“People that just sort of haphazardly clip their coupons and stroll through the aisle, they’re going to save a little, but they’re not going to make a huge difference at their bottom line on their grocery budget,” said Nathan Engels, who has earned the nickname “Mr. Coupon” for his strategic use of coupons to save.

Engels runs a Web site, “We Use Coupons,” that sees the kind of traffic most grocery stores can only covet.

The site got its name from the response Engels and his wife would give when people asked them how they saved so much money at the store.

The 28-year-old from Villa Hills, Ky., spends almost no money on groceries — and sometimes walks out with a credit. His garage is filled with astonishing quantities of Jell-O, freezers full of veggies, and shelves of shampoo and toiler paper — all booty from his extreme couponing trips.

“The last time I purchased toilet paper at the store was in 2007,” he said, boasting that a three-year supply cost him $30.

To learn the secrets of the couponing world, “Nightline” visited Engels and Jill Cataldo, also known as “The Coupon Queen,” who teaches classes in Chicago and writes a nationally syndicated column about coupons.

“Our weekly grocery bills right now for our family of five are between $40 and $60,” she said. “And that’s everything, pets, child and diapers, everything.”

The Internet has made this new breed of couponing possible. Engels and Cataldo share information on deals on their Web Sites, connecting thrifty shoppers in a nationwide network of supermarket intelligence.

The success of their Web sites has made Cataldo and Engels celebrities of sorts in their communities.

“I can’t really go to the grocery store too often without being recognized here in Chicago anymore,” Cataldo said.

“Nightline” challenged Cataldo and Engels to put their couponing skills to the test to see who could make $50 go further towards their weekly grocery bill.

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How to Save at the Grocery Store

Cataldo headed to her favorite store, Jewel-Osco and Engels didn’t waste any time hitting up Kroger.

Weaving through the supermarket aisles, the experts shared their tips and tricks on how to save big.

Tip #1: Get Paid to Shop

By clipping coupons and looking for special promotions, Engels actually gets manufacturers to pay him to buy their product.

“It’s called an overage. It’ll be right off my bill at the end,” he said, explaining what happens when the coupon’s value exceeds the actual price of the product.

The store was also running a special promotion — buy eight cans of tuna, get $4 off — so Engels actually turned a profit.

“We don’t care about the tuna in this instance because we’re getting it for free and then actually we’re going to make a little money,” he said while loading tuna into his cart.

Cataldo’s first stop was the customer service desk. Always on top of a deal, she heard about a sale on diapers, so she called the store in advance to have them save her a box.

“This is the size my little guy wears, so I said, ‘Hey, if you have one left, can you hold it for me,’ and they’re usually great about that,” she said.

With the sale and a coupon, the price was about 7.5 cents a diaper.

Heading over to the produce aisle, Cataldo shared her first tip: don’t fall for the myth that coupons are only for junk food.

Tip #2: Use Coupons for Organic Food

Cataldo brought a coupon for organic broccoli, which was on sale for less than $1.50.

Tip #3: Get a Rain Check

If a store is all out of something you have a coupon for, shoppers can get a rain check.

“Let’s say this was on sale,” he said, pointing to a box of cereal, “And there was none left and someone had wiped it out. What we do is go to the service check and get a rain check. What the rain check does is it extends the sale price of the item for 30 days. So you can still go to the store and …get as many as you want.”

Tip #4: Don’t Throw Catalina Coupons Away

Another way Cataldo saves is with Catalina coupons — the kind that print out of a special machine at the register. They’re just like cash, she said.

“If it seems like I’m buying a lot, it’s because I am,” she said. “While it is on sale for $1.50 a box, there’s another Catalina deal on this when you buy five you’re going to get $4 back and another one you’re going to get $2 back, so that’s six back with coupons, it’s going to cost me less than six. So I’m actually going to get paid to take this home today. And why wouldn’t you take home free cereal that you like?”

By the end of the challenge, our shoppers’ distinct styles were clear. Although Cataldo said she will always take something home if it’s free, she said she tries to only buy what her family will use.

She seemed to have a different philosophy than Engels, who was willing to take home as much stuff as humanly possible…as long as he paid little or nothing for it. He purchased what looked like a lifetime supply of air freshener.

Cataldo shops so she’s stocked for just three months.

“I’m going to buy 12 weeks’ worth because I know about three months from now, prices are going to dip again,” she said. “And we’re going to go in and do it again. And of course we use coupons and cut it even more.”

Engels buys enough stuff to last a year. “The strategic way of doing this is that I don’t have to buy [frozen veggies] every week like most people do,” he said.

While it may seem like a crazy game of clipping and saving, coupons helped Engels get out of debt. Now, they’re almost completely debt free.

“When my wife and I got married in 2007 we started to look at our finances and we realized we had $17,000 in credit card debt alone. We said, ‘We need to do something different. We need to start saving, we need to pick up more hours at work.’ So what we did is we started to do everything. We worked harder and we started to look at coupons,” Engels said.

Both carts were full when they reached the finish line. The results?

Pre-coupons, Jill Cataldo rang in at $118.84. After all her coupons were scanned, her groceries came to a grand total of $50.61.

Plus, she scored $20 worth of Catalina coupons to use on her next shopping trip.

Nathan Engels had $19 left over with his clever combination of coupons spending only $30 on groceries that retail for approximately $500.

Nathan Engels’ Shopping List:

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My Take: I have heard about people who can do this coupon thing.  The problem is, people who are on a low income cannot afford to buy strictly with coupons because many coupons require you to buy a certain amount of the product.  However, sometimes you will find that a product on sale for 2-for-1 and the coupon only requires the purchase of 1 product.  That is cost-effective, especially when the product costs more than $10!

I also think it is more than just income defense people from doing it.  They would rather purchase things they really don’t need like personalized water bottles or custom golf shirts.  I can understand the purchase of imprinted pens for business or personalized kids gifts for children, but water bottles are something you can buy they don’t have to be personalized.  I suppose you could even get coupons for this kind of stuff if you really look for them.

Then you have those that are more interested in outdoing the Joneses next door by putting down a new garage floor to make it look nice.  They will go out and buy interlocking tile to put down in their garage just to make it look better than the neighbors.

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Which States Benefit from Healthcare Reform?

Cited: ABC News

The nation’s Medicare system will grow under the nation’s healthcare warm and is one of the main organizations to implement the goal of expanded medical coverage.  However, some states will be winners and some will be losers in this new arrangement where money is concerned.

Here’s a look at why some states may stand to benefit.

The biggest winners, state officials and Medicaid experts say, could be those states that have already taken an important step toward expanding their own Medicaid programs: covering childless adults.

The reason for the coming windfall: These states are already paying for something that the new healthcare plan will soon mandate, and as the law’s provisions begin to kick in, the federal government will actually pick up much of the burden that these states are now bearing.

The winners: 11 states plus D.C.

The 11 so-called “expansion states” states are: Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, plus the District of Columbia.

Currently, states that cover childless adults receive a 50% reimbursement for their costs. But the federal share of that reimbursement is set to increase, according to the bill of healthcare fixes, which tweak some of the numbers in the healthcare bill already passed and signed by President Obama.

The fixes bill was passed by the Senate and the House Thursday and now goes to Mr. Obama to be signed into

In 2014, the federal government will pick up 75% of the costs. By 2020, the fed’s share will grow to 93%.

By contrast, states that have not yet begun to cover childless adults will get federal reimbursements to cover 100% of their programs to start, but over time they will have to start paying for a portion of the cost. In other words, their expenses will eventually grow, while those of states that got a head start will gradually shrink.

Although it’s hard to quantify how much these states will save as a result of the changes, it will total in the billions of dollars annually.

Sitting pretty: New York, Maine

For example, since the year 2000, New York State has been providing Medicaid healthcare benefits for childless adults and parents at the federal poverty level ($10,800 for a single adult; $14,570 for two adults). As of February, there were 388,000 people in that program.

Under the healthcare fixes – officially known as the reconciliation bill – the state would see a net gain of $2.1 billion, estimates Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D) of New York.

“The reconciliation bill does give financial benefits for the expansion states,” says Robin Rudowitz, Washington-based associate director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, part of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Maine is another state that stands to benefit from the fixes bill. According to Rep. Mike Michaud (D) of Maine, the state, which already insures many childless adults under its Medicaid program, will receive an additional $154 million in federal financing from 2014 to 2019.

In other states, however, the exact value of the benefit – or whether there is a benefit at all – is in doubt because of the complexity of the issue.

Confident: Wisconsin, for instance, has only a limited program to cover childless adults under Medicaid.

Buffeted by the economic downturn, the state wanted its Medicaid money to cover as many adults as possible since many had been laid off. But that meant offering each recipient less money than the federal government benchmark for reimbursement. Moreover, the state had so little money to put toward the program – and the need was so great – that the enrollment limit was filled within three months and there is now a waiting list.

With all these variables, how much will the new federal healthcare plan help? “We are in the process of working on the numbers but we are confident they will come out net to the good,” says Karen Timberlake, Secretary of the Department of Health Services in Madison.

Confusion: Arizona

Arizona demonstrates no how fluid the numbers are. Four Arizona Democrats in Congress say their state will get $2.5 billion in new Medicaid funding under the new plan. But Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, estimates it will cost the state $1 billion in both 2012 and 2013.

The discrepancy has its roots in Arizona’s decision to expand its Medicaid coverage to poor childless adults in 2000, adding an estimated 310,000 people to its rolls.

Faced with a large budget deficit in recent years, the state tried to cut its Medicaid coverage. But because it previously accepted federal stimulus funds – which included a Medicaid adjustment – it was not permitted to do so. The terms of the new legislation also make backing out difficult, if not impossible: The state cannot cut current services without risking lawsuits.

Governor Brewer’s $1 billion estimate is based on the expansion of the program in 2012 and 2013. She calls the healthcare bill “financially devastating” to the state, which proportionately has one of the largest deficits in the nation.

“Hyperbolic and completely unfounded,” is what four Arizona Democrats in Congress have called Governor Brewer’s estimates of the added Medicaid costs.

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My Take: Where Arizona is concerned, I think Governor Brewer doesn’t know what she’s talking about.  Recently, all she’s been doing this fighting with state officials about a state budget.  Needless to say, it was barely passed in time before the deadline.  It seemed like she was more interested in getting something like a free car insurance quote than anything else.

I don’t think car insurance quotes are more important than the state budget or whatever it is she was concentrating on.  I do know one thing, the state should purchasing and not its firemen or police.  If they need a copy machine they should buy used copy machines and not new ones.  In fact, they could probably purchase Canon copier accessories cheaper online.

Never fear, government officials will always be able to afford their sports tickets!  They would rather lay off government employees like firemen and police officers.  They would never consider taking a pay cut themselves because that might interfere with getting their concert tickets for their Alexandria cleaning service.  Same thing goes for guys in Washington, they need their maid service DC.

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Americans Threatened if 9/11 Mastermind Executed

Cited: Daily News

Another Osama Bin Laden tape now suggests that the crippled Al Qaeda network is encouraging lone jihadists that are unaffiliated to do his evil work and murder and kidnap more Americans.  In fact, he even warned America that if the Obama administration executes the man who masterminded the 9/11 attack, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, in any American hostages in their hands will be slaughtered!  Most westerners already assume that that is what will happen to American hostages in their hands anyway. An audio tape, purportedly by the al-Qaida leader, was broadcast on the al-Jazeera news channel March 25th.

“The day America will take such decision [to execute Mohammed and any others], it would have taken a decision to execute whoever we capture,” Bin Laden said in a brief clip aired on Al Jazeera.

The news-junkie terrorist knows KSM will likely be executed anyway – and that the thug he called a “hero-warrior” actually begged for death and martyrdom in a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, two years ago.

A US counterterrorism official dismissed the sentiments expressed in the 74-second tape as “the height of absurdity” on March 25th.  “It is bizarre,” said one U.S. counter-terror official. “KSM himself may disagree.”

The fugitive Al Qaeda leader’s intended audience is most likely those in the Arab world influenced by him and who can act independently against Americans.  Most of his recent tapes have been released directly on the Web.

Though addressing America in the latest, the tape was given to the biggest TV network in the Middle East.  CIA Director Leon Panetta has said Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan are too threatened by a drone blitz to plot 9/11-type strikes.

Intelligence officials on March 25 didn’t discount that Bin Laden may be trying to incite more “lone wolf” attacks, given the attention paid to loners such as alleged Fort Hood killer Army Maj. Nidal Hasan and Nigerian underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The country is understood to be seeking the death penalty against Mohammed and four other men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks. President Barack Obama announced in November last year that the five would be tried in a civilian court in New York.

The speaker in the tape criticized Obama for “following the footsteps of his predecessor”.

“The politicians in the White House were practicing injustice against us and still they are, especially by supporting Israel in its continuous occupation of Palestine.”

The recording continued: “They used to think that America across the oceans is protected from the rage of the oppressed until our reaction was loudly heard at your home on the 9/11, with God’s help.”

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, responded to al-Qaida’s threat to execute detained Americans by drawing attention to the organization’s previous treatment of captives.

“It’s the height of absurdity for anyone associated with al-Qaida to even suggest that now, at long last, they’re going to start treating captives badly,” the official told Reuters.  “They may have forgotten Danny Pearl and all the others they’ve slaughtered, but we haven’t.”

Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was kidnapped and held hostage in Pakistan in 2002. His kidnappers made demands for the release of al-Qaida prisoners before setting a deadline for his killing.  After Pearl had been held for a month, the US state department received a videotape showing the journalist being murdered.

The US president has already faced criticism over the treatment of Mohammed, although so far it has come from closer to home. His decision to put the alleged 9/11 organizer on trial in central New York has seen the president come under pressure, with Republicans saying al-Qaida will use the trial for propaganda.

Others have criticized the security threat represented by holding the trial in New York, while the debate continues over whether the suspects could be guaranteed a fair trial in a civilian court.

Legal experts predicted the suspects would plead guilty in order to win execution and martyrdom.

In January, the last tape received, supposedly from Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day

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My Take: In my opinion, there is no place in the United States that that scumbag responsible for planning 9/11 or any of his accomplices could get a fair trial.  That bastard is going to need his own private Fair Oaks CA armed security guard to stay alive during the trial because I have a feeling somebody will try to killing him.  That is if he can even get Sacramento security guard services to giving one.   I do not believe that anyone in this country would help him if he was joking on the street.

Because of 9/11 we have had to increase our air cargo security and put in more walk through metal detectors in our airports.  This in turn, has caused the cost of air flight to increase.  Metal detector equipment is not cheap and air cargo safety is a must for business economics.  The 9/11 incident has caused so many problems from this country not to mention the number of lives have been lost since that day.

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