TSA Screening Supervisor Admits to Stealing from Passengers
February 21, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
February 21st, 2011
AOL News
By: Fran Golden
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screening supervisor at Newark Liberty International Airport has admitted to taking kickbacks from a subordinate who stole cash from airline passengers.
Michael Arato, 41, admitted in federal court he was involved in stealing from passengers going through security screening at the New Jersey airport’s Terminal B. He was arrested for the crimes in October.
Prosecutors say Arato and his screener co-worker stole $10,000 to $30,000 in cash from passengers’ carry-on bags over a period of 13 months. As the boss, Arato made his subordinate give him a kickback on anything the man stole.
The two screeners reportedly targeted their victims, who were mostly non English-speaking women flying home to India.
The men were blatant in their thievery, even splitting up the cash in front of airport security cameras, according to authorities.
The other screener, who has not been named, cooperated with the investigation.
Arato faces a maximum of 15 years in prison at his sentencing on May 24.
Click here for the full report from AOL News
Light Bulbs Advertised as ‘Green’ Contain Arsenic and Lead
February 21st, 2011
WalletPop.com
By: Sally Deneen
Those energy-saving little LED bulbs advertised as eco-friendly — and used in strings of holiday lights and in car headlights — actually contain toxic lead, arsenic and some other bad stuff, new research shows.
Alarming? Sure. But in a surprise twist, a study author says: Buy them anyway.
As long as the bulbs aren’t crushed, they pose no danger. And for saving electricity, they hands-down beat Thomas Edison’s invention, the incandescent bulb, as well as the traditional bulb’s successor, mercury-containing compact fluorescent bulbs.
“We’re not recommending that people throw them away. These things have a long life expectancy,” Oladele Ogunseitan, chair of University of California Irvine’s Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention, told Consumer Ally about LED lights.
You may have read appeals from your electric utility to switch holiday lights to strings of newfangled energy-saving “light-emitting diodes,” or LEDs. Maybe you own a flashlight or camping headlamp powered by the tiny bulbs. For research published in the science journal Environmental Science & Technology, Ogunseitan and his colleagues examined crushed holiday LED lights in a quest for health hazards. (That such examination hadn’t been done before is, in itself, a “surprise,” he says.)
Oddly, they found the danger level varied by bulb color.
White bulbs overall appeared to have relatively low toxicity: “they contain less copper and do not contain arsenic or lead,” the study states.
Red lights contained up to eight times the toxic lead permitted under California law. In general, brighter, high-intensity bulbs were more hazardous than others.
“We find the low-intensity red LEDs exhibit significant cancer and non-cancer potentials due to the high content of arsenic and lead,” the study states.
Breathing toxic fumes from a single broken bulb wouldn’t automatically cause cancer, but could prove a tipping point on top of chronic exposure to other carcinogens, according to a university press release. Toddlers could be harmed, Ogunseitan warned, if they mistook the bright lights for candy.
That’s not exactly what you want to hear about an “environmentally friendly” light bulb.
Click here for the full report from WalletPop.com
Judge Found Guilty of Racketeering & Tax Fraud
February 21, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
February 21st, 2011
Reuters
By: Dave Warner
A federal jury on Friday found a former Pennsylvania judge guilty in a so-called kids-for-cash scheme, in which he took money in exchange for sending juvenile offenders to for-profit detention centers.
Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was accused of taking $2.8 million in bribes and kickbacks for putting juveniles into detention centers owned by friends.
The jury in Scranton found him guilty of racketeering, money-laundering conspiracy, fraud and filing false income tax returns.
The jury found him not guilty, however, of seven counts of extortion and 10 counts of bribery.
The former judge faces a maximum sentence of 157 years in prison. The jury also ruled he must forfeit $997,600.
“The jury did its job,” said U.S. Attorney Peter Smith afterward in a news conference broadcast on local radio.
In trial testimony, Ciavarella, who presided over the Luzerne County Juvenile Court, denied he accepted money but did admit hiding funds from the Internal Revenue Service.
Ciavarella, 60, was a judge for 14 years.
Prosecutors said he took kickbacks from Robert Mericle, the builder of the PA Child Care detention center near Wilkes Barre, and from Robert Powell, a co-owner of the center.
According to prosecutors, Ciavarella threatened to send juveniles somewhere else if he did not get cash from the men.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod said following the verdict that the court system during the time of Ciavarella and another judge, Michael Conahan, was a “criminal enterprise.”
The other judge, Conahan, pleaded guilty last year to one count of racketeering conspiracy. He has not been sentenced.
In 2009, both judges were offered plea agreements that would have resulted in 87 months in prison.
But those offers were subsequently nullified by U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik, who deemed them insufficient. Kosik presided over the Ciavarella case.
Click here for the full report from Reuters
Worst Foods in America
February 21st, 2011
Slashfood
Two pieces of bread. That’s the bedrock of every hamburger on the planet. Here’s the caveat: With the power to create comes the power to inflate. In fact, the average cheeseburger has ballooned from 333 to 600 calories in the last 20 years.
Some burgers even top out at 2,000 calories. For this there’s no greater evidence than the greasy bread-boats being served at our most popular burger shops. Sure, there are decent options out there, but more often than not the junk that comes stuffed between the buns is enough to turn Jessica Simpson into Homer Simpson. Like these five burgers listed below. They’re gut bombs in the worst way. Luckily, Eat This, Not That! discovered healthier alternatives for each of them.
Number 20
Worst Kids’ Meal: California Pizza Kitchen Kids Curly Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Calories : 1,038
Saturated Fat : 38 grams
Sodium : 1,651 mg
This meal delivers as much saturated fat as an adult should consume over the course of 48 hours.
Number 18
Worst Healthy Sandwich: Blimpie Special Vegetarian (12-inch)
Calories : 1,180
Saturated Fat : 59 grams
Sodium : 3,540 mg
This sandwich gnaws through nearly an entire day’s fat allotment and more than 1 1/2 days of sodium.
Number 17
Worst Fast-Food Burger: Wendy’s Triple Baconator
Calories : 1,350
Saturated Fat : 90 grams
Sodium : 2,780 mg
It’s fat on top of fat on top of fat, 10 layers in all — a tower of nutritional terror.
Number 16
Worst Side: Five Guys Large Fries
Calories : 1,464
Saturated Fat : 71 grams
Sodium : 213 mg
You’re better off ordering two “little” sandwiches and skipping the fries
Number 14
Worst Fast-Food Breakfast: Hardee’s Loaded Biscuit ‘N’ Gravy with Large Hash Rounds
Calories : 1,530
Saturated Fat : 110 grams
Sodium : 3,020 mg
The biscuits and gravy amount to a full day’s worth of saturated fat before you tack on the side of hash browns.
Click here for the full report from Slashfood
Wrong Flu Vaccine Given to British Kids?
February 21st, 2011
BBC News
The UK’s Medical Defence Union said it knew of a handful of recent cases in which children were given flu vaccines unsuitable for their age group.
Some of the jabs in the seasonal flu vaccine programme are not licensed for children under four.
Already “excellent” programme delivery would be improved by reducing errors, the Department of Health (DoH) said.
A spokeswoman for the department said: “It is the responsibility of the doctor or nurse giving the vaccine to check and ensure it is the right vaccine for the patient.”
Last year the DoH published a warning against using some flu vaccines after reports that some youngsters had suffered febrile convulsions following the jab.
Officials said it was important that youngsters aged over six months in at-risk groups – such as asthma sufferers or those with a compromised immune system – received the vaccine, but care should be taken to use the right one.
It warned against giving the jabs Enzira or CSL Biotherapies generic influenza vaccine, marketed by Pfizer, to children under five.
There are about 10 flu vaccine brands in use.
‘Mix-up’
In the last five years the MDU said it had received 108 reports of errors in immunising children using all types of jab, including against meningitis.
In a statement, it said: “The MDU has received a number of calls from members on its advice line recently where there has been a mix-up over the type of vaccine administered to children.
“In addition, a survey of cases reported to the MDU has revealed that 108 immunisation errors were reported over the last five years.
“Of these, 98 (90%) involved children and three concerned doctors administering the incorrect seasonal influenza vaccine to children.”
MDU medico-legal adviser Dr Jacqui Phillips said that although the number of adverse incidents is low considering the numbers of immunisations given, “vaccine errors do represent a sizeable proportion of the medication incidents notified to the MDU”.
“Not all seasonal flu vaccines are suitable for children and GPs need to ensure that neither they nor practice staff administer the incorrect ones,” she said.
The MDU recommends doctors and practice nurses thoroughly check records prior to administering a vaccine.
Click here for the full report from BBC News
Scientists Warn of Solar ‘Katrina’
February 21st, 2011
Financial Times
By: Clive Cookson
The sun is waking up from a long quiet spell. Last week it sent out the strongest flare for four years – and scientists are warning that earth should prepare for an intense electromagnetic storm that, in the worst case, could be a “global Katrina” costing the world economy $2,000bn.
Senior officials responsible for policy on solar storms – also known as space weather – in the US, UK and Sweden urged more preparedness at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington.
“We have to take the issue of space weather seriously,” said Sir John Beddington, UK chief scientist. “The sun is coming out of a quiet period, and our vulnerability has increased since the last solar maximum [around 2000].”
“Predict and prepare should be the watchwords,” agreed Jane Lubchenco, head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So much more of our technology is vulnerable than it was 10 years ago.”
A solar storm starts with an eruption of super-hot gas travelling out from the sun at speeds of up to 5m miles an hour. Electrically charged particles hit earth’s atmosphere 20 to 30 hours later, causing electromagnetic havoc.
Click here for the full report from Financial Times
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 2-19-11
Today, Kevin explains how diet foods are specifically designed to make you fat and how America is slowly being sold to the highest bidder.
Self Help:
Shed Pounds Fast
Have Dinner With KT
Daily Life Essentials
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Hear The Whole Interview:
Andrew Wakefield
Erich von Däniken
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Reporter Suffers Stroke On Air
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Iconic Symbol of America To Be Owned By The Germans
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The Kevin Trudeau Show: 2-18-11
Today, Kevin reveals the secrets to beating the odds and making big money in gambling.
Self Help:
Mineral Based Make Up
Change The Way You Think
Make Your Dreams Come True
Health:
Fast Food Causes Childhood Obesity
Harmful Medical Devices Causing Too Many Deaths
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FDA: Drug Used to Prevent Premature Labor Dangerous for Moms-to-Be
February 18th, 2011
AOL Health
By: Marrecca Fiore
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that a commonly used drug to prevent preterm labor may be dangerous for moms-to-be.
In a statement issued Thursday, the govermment agency said that terbutaline, which is administered by injection or through an infusion pump in hospital settings, should not be used in pregnant women due to the potential for serious maternal heart problems and death.
Additionally, the FDA is requiring that terbutaline tablets, which are normally used to prevent and treat narrowing of the airways associated with asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, carry a “boxed warning” against the use of this drug to prevent preterm labor.
“Women should be aware that serious and sometimes fatal side effects have been reported after prolonged use of terbutaline in pregnant women,” said Dr. Scott Monroe, director of FDA’s Division of Reproductive and Urologic Products, in a statement. “It is important for patients and health-care professionals to consider all the potential risks and known benefits of any drug before deciding on its use.”
The FDA also said there is no evidence that terbutaline is even effective at preventing premature labor and improving “infant outcomes.” Deaths in pregnant women related to the use of this drug are a known side effect, however.
The new warnings update similar concerns that the agency sent in a letter to doctors in 1997, USA Today reports.
“I hope the FDA’s new warning will help us finish the job that got started with that letter,” Cynthia Pearson, of the National Women’s Health Network, told the newspaper.
But some doctors still believe it can be used safely.
“If you use the tool effectively, it will work,” John Elliott, of Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Calif. and a leading expert on multiple-birth delivery, told USA Today.
A spokeswoman from Alere, a company that provides terbutaline pump therapy, told the newspaper officials were unavailable to comment on the FDA announcement.
Click here for the full report from AOL Health
USC Hospital Halts Transplants After Patient Gets Wrong Kidney
February 18th, 2011
AOL News
By: Mara Gay
The University of Southern California University Hospital has temporarily shut down its kidney transplant program after a patient in need of a transplant accidentally received a kidney designated for someone else.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the private Los Angeles hospital voluntarily halted transplants on Jan. 29 after realizing it had put the wrong organ into one of its patients. Bryan Stewart, a spokesman for OneLegacy, a program that facilitates transplants with the hospital, told the paper the error was implanting a kidney in the wrong patient. Stewart could not be immediately reached for comment by AOL News.
Stewart said the patient who received the wrong kidney survived through a stroke of luck: the donor kidney had the blood type O, which is universally accepted. The other patient received a kidney a few days later.
In a statement, the hospital simply said it suspended the program because of a “process error” and expects to resume transplants soon, possibly today. Safety “is the hospital’s number one concern,” the statement said, and “the hospital inactivated the program while clinical protocols are assessed and additional safeguards to the kidney transplant program are developed.”
The hospital said it is conducting an internal review of the program and is helping patients who choose to seek care elsewhere get added to wait lists at other hospitals.
“The review is expected to be complete by Feb. 18,” the statement read, “at which time the USC University Hospital Transplant Institute will consider reactivation of the kidney program.”
The USC hospital did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on the organ mix-up.
Click here for the full report from AOL News
