Baghdad and Other Iraqi Cities Calmer

Iraqis returned to the streets of Baghdad after a curfew was lifted, and the southern port city of Basra appeared quiet on Monday, a day after the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr called for his followers to stop fighting and in turn demanded concessions from Iraq’s government.

Hundreds of Flights Canceled Today for Inspection of Planes

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines canceled hundreds of flights Thursday as they continue their inspections of wiring bundles on some of their planes.

American, the nation's largest airline, canceled 132 flights of its estimated 2,300 flights scheduled for Thursday, spokesman Tim Wagner said. That was about 6 percent of American's Thursday schedule after the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline canceled 325 flights on Wednesday.

Delta expects about 275 cancellations through early Friday, affecting about 3 percent of Delta's worldwide flight schedule, said spokeswoman Chris Kelly. About 70 percent of Delta's MD-88 fleet was to be inspected by early evening Thursday, with normal operations planned by early Friday, she said.

American said it began its inspections after an audit of the carrier by a joint team of inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Fort Worth-based airline. The inspections focus on proper spacing between two bundles of wires in the plane's auxiliary hydraulic system, and those wires must be installed exactly according to an FAA directive, American said.

10 Million Baby Boomers At Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease

MEDSCAPE report by Susan Jeffrey

A new report released by the Alzheimer's Association includes new estimates that show the lifetime risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is 17% in women and 9% in men who live to age 55 years. The figures mean that 10 million of the 78 million baby boomers alive today can expect to develop AD in their lifetime; this number increases to 14 million if other dementias are included.

The new numbers outlining remaining lifetime risk at age 55 years were provided to the Alzheimer's Association by authors of the Framingham Heart Study, and the data appear in the association's report, 2008 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures, released this week.

Alzheimer's Association president and CEO Harry Johns said in a statement that the information in this report "makes it clear that the crisis cannot be ignored, not when 10 million baby boomers are at risk of developing this fatal disease. Unchecked, this disease will impose staggering consequences on families, the economy, and the nation's health and long-term care infrastructure."

The report includes information ranging from prevalence, to mortality, to costs for direct care, to indirect costs to caregivers. The document also includes a special report on remaining lifetime risk, based on data from the Framingham Heart Study, authored by Alexa Beiser, PhD, Sudha Seshadri, MD, Rhoda Au, PhD, and Philip A. Wolf, MD, from Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, in Massachusetts.

Other data included in the report:

Currently, 5.2 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer's disease. About 1 in 8 people older than 65 years (approximately 13%) have the disease.
Women are more likely to develop AD than men, although this is principally because they live longer on average than men.
As many as a half-million new cases will develop every year by 2010; by 2050, that number is expected to grow to 1 million.
Alzheimer's disease is among the top 10 leading causes of death for people of all ages, and number 5 for those 60 years and older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although mortality rates for heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and stroke declined between 2000 and 2005, rates for AD increased by almost 45%, the report notes. This decline in death rates in other causes of death might be expected to further increase rates of dementia as people live longer, the report points out.
Direct costs to Medicare and Medicaid for the care of people with AD and other dementias and indirect costs to businesses with employees who are caregivers for someone with AD amount to more than $148 billion annually. In 2000, total Medicare costs per beneficiary for beneficiaries with AD 65 years and older were on average 3 times higher than for other beneficiaries.
In 2007, nearly 10 million Americans 18 years and older provided 8.4 billion hours of unpaid care to people with AD (valued at $89 billion), 4 times what Medicare pays for nursing-home care for AD and other dementias.
About 250,000 children between the ages of 8 and 18 years are also providing care for loved ones with AD, and about 1 million caregivers have to provide that care from a distance of more than 2 hours away.

Malignant Hyperthermia Kills Teen During Elective Cosmetic Surgery

A rare condition, difficult to detect, killed 18 year old during an elective surgical procedure to correct asymmetrical breasts.

Usually genetic and very difficult to detect, the condition [malignant hyperthermia] causes the body temperature to spike as high as 112 degrees and salts to precipitate out of the blood. If the reaction is not recognized almost immediately and an antidote given, it is fatal.

Dr. Richard D’Amico, the president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Wednesday that what happened to [Miss] Kuleba could happen to anyone.

“This young lady’s death is a tragedy. Our hearts go out to her family. It’s a devastating event,” he said. But, he added, “this is something that can happen in any surgery, on any part of the body, in any setting.”

D’Amico encountered it once during what should have been routine nasal surgery on a male patient. He said he was lucky; his anesthesiologist immediately recognized the signs of malignant hyperthermia and took remedial action quickly enough to save the man’s life.

“There’s a medication for this that needs to be given very quickly, which was done,” D’Amico said.

The problem is that there’s no easy way to identify people who are at risk of the syndrome.

'Welcome Home, Endeavour': Space Shuttle Lands in Darkness of Night

The space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Wednesday, making a rare nighttime touchdown to wrap up "a two-week adventure" at the international space station.

The shuttle swooped through the darkness and landed on NASA's illuminated runway at 8:39 p.m., an hour after sunset.

"Welcome home, Endeavour," Mission Control radioed. "Congrats to the entire crew."

The Rest of the World Votes for the U.S. President

Taiwan: No Independence In Its New President's Lifetime

Taiwan’s voters have given themselves and China a chance for a healthy, new start. Last week, they elected a president who promised to strengthen relations with the mainland — while ensuring the autonomy of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy. That should be a relief for both sides of the straits.

Over the last decade, Taipei’s push toward independence and Beijing’s rhetorical bullying and real military buildup — including 1,000 missiles pointed at the island — fanned tensions and fears of war. The two governments must now seize this opportunity to build a productive new relationship.

Ma Ying-jeou, the Nationalist Party leader and Harvard-educated lawyer, won 58 percent of the vote by arguing that Taiwan’s best hope of boosting economic growth lies in closer relations with the mainland. He has advanced an ambitious agenda that includes regular direct flights, increased tourism and expanded commercial ties.

He is also talking about confidence-building measures — a hot line is one idea — that would reduce the chance of an accidental military confrontation. In the longer term, he says the two governments should negotiate a peace accord that would formally end hostilities dating from 1949 when the Nationalists fled to Taiwan after the Communists took over Beijing.

As for independence, Mr. Ma has sensibly said the issue would probably not be settled in his lifetime and has called for a diplomatic framework in which the two sides simply acknowledge each other’s existence.

Belly Fat? Dementia In Your Future

SHIRLEY S. WANG writes:

People who have more belly fat during middle age, even those considered to be of normal weight, have higher rates of dementia when they reach old age, according to a study in the journal Neurology. The link highlights a body of work showing that health is affected by not just overall body weight but how the weight is distributed.

Too much abdominal fat, which extends into the body cavity around major organs, is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These new findings, published Wednesday, show that large amounts of belly fat are associated with declining cognitive function as well.

"There is something very potent about collecting fat in your belly," said Rachel Whitmer, lead study author and a scientist at the research division of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif.

Belly Fat? Dementia May Be In Your Future

Previous research has shown that having an apple-shaped body increases the risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease, but this is the first time it has been linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

In the study, which was published Wednesday by the journal Neurology, people who were both obese and had a large belly were three times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia in later years than those of normal weight and belly size. The risk of dementia nearly doubled in those who were a healthy weight but still had a bulging waist, suggesting that fat accumulated around the midline is particularly unhealthy for the brain.

Lost and Found: Message Floating in Ocean Since 1987

"This letter is part of our science project to study oceans and learn about people in distant lands," she wrote. "Please send the date and location of the bottle with your address. I will send you my picture and tell you when and where the bottle was placed in the ocean. Your friend, Emily Hwaung."

Unable To Get Aid Projects Underway in Afganistan Due to Poor Security

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Kabul

Many Afghans are disappointed by a lack of tangible progress. Some $10bn (£5bn) in aid promised to Afghanistan has still to be delivered, aid organisation Oxfam has said.

It also finds that two-thirds of aid is not spent through the government and 40% goes back to donor countries in consultant fees and ex-patriot pay.

Oxfam says the prospects for peace in Afghanistan are being undermined because what has been donated is not being used effectively. Oxfam carried out the report on behalf of 94 aid agencies in Afghanistan.

"Western countries are failing to deliver" is the clear message of the Oxfam report for the umbrella group Agency Co-ordinating Body for Afghan Relief (Acbar).

It shows a disparity between what has been promised and what has been delivered.

And the way in which the money is used is also criticised.

Different countries have different ways of spending. Some countries channel donations through the government to help their civil service manage and decide on the funding of development programmes but two-thirds of the international aid misses out the government altogether.

America is the biggest donor by far.

But a USAid official confirmed that since 2001 it had only spent two-thirds of the money it pledged - a shortfall of $8.5bn - blaming poor security for an inability to get projects under way.

And the official said only 6% of the overall budget was spent through the Afghan government "to ensure US taxpayers' money could be accounted for" - implying a lack of trust in the government system.

Men Cheating: Arrogance Is Blind

DAVID ZINCZENKO writes of why supposedly faithful men cheat on their wives. Here's one of the silliest, at least if these men can be called 'normally faithful':

It's not to say that entry-level men who make minimum salaries don't cheat, but it's also pretty clear that powerful men with the means to withdraw hefty sums of cash (for hotels, gifts, prostitutes) are often candidates. It's not just because they have more options; it's also because they think their invincibility in the office will also extend to their private lives, which they assume will remain private no matter how high-profile they may be. Arrogance is a form of blindness, after all.

The other reasons Mr. Zinczenko gives for supposedly faithful men cheating are equally cliche: the internet makes it easier, ego stroking at work by a pretty colleague, problems at home, etc. What Mr. Zinczenko fails to reckon is that men who cheat on their wives in the manner he describes are not 'normally faithful' husbands. They are normal cheaters who have the same old excuses.

Protesting China: Doused in Red at Site of Ancient Olympic Games

The brief disruption [by Reporters Without Borders] occurred as Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee, was addressing thousands of spectators and dignitaries at the site of the ancient Olympic Games. It was broadcast live by Greek television, but China state television cut away to a prerecorded scene.

The Athens chapter of the rights group Reporters Without Borders said three of its members had staged the protest.

Moments after the disruption, a Tibetan woman doused herself in red paint and lay in the road in front of a torch runner while police officers arrested two other Tibetan protesters planning a peaceful demonstration about a mile from the old sanctuary.

Challenging China's Rule

The Communist leadership has faced the biggest challenge to its rule in the Himalayan area in nearly two decades after protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa exploded into violence on March 14, sparking sympathy protests in the neighboring provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai.

Protests also have spread to Nepal and India.

In Nepal on Monday, police arrested about 475 Tibetan refugees, monks and their supporters as they gathered in Katmandu, the capital, to protest a crackdown on Tibetans in China, the U.N. said.

Chanting “China, stop killings in Tibet. U.N., we want justice,” protesters were marching toward U.N. offices when police stopped them about 300 feet away, beat them with bamboo sticks and snatched their banners.

Fighting For Her Life: University of Georgia Murder Victim

Meredith Emerson used her wits and martial arts training when she was attacked in the north Georgia mountains by a drifter who eventually killed and decapitated her, the convicted killer told investigators.

Gary Michael Hilton described his four days with Emerson, and how she fought him from the moment he tried to overpower her as she hiked with her dog, Ella, according to the interviews that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

"She was doing everything she could to stay alive," GBI Director Vernon Keenan told the newspaper. "It's not something you can train for. Instinct kicks in ... She nearly got the best of him. She's very much a hero."

Blessed Easter!

Serial Execution-Style Killings at Boca Raton Shopping Mall

BRIAN SKOLOFF writes:

[In December, 2007,] The 911 call lasted a split second. Not even a breath was heard.

It was Nancy Bochicchio's last desperate plea for help.

The single mom and her 7-year-old daughter, Joey, would soon be dead, each bound and shot in the head in the back seat of their black Chrysler Aspen.

March 23, 2007

Randi Gorenberg, 52, heads to the mall to do some shopping. It's a typical day for the bubbly, outgoing doctor's wife and mother of two.

Surveillance video shows her leaving the mall at about 1:16 p.m. She walks into the parking lot to her black Mercedes SUV.

Just over a half-hour later, at 1:54 p.m., witnesses spot her car driving through a park in nearby Delray Beach.

Then a gunshot.

Gorenberg's body falls limply from the passenger door, shot in the head.

Her Mercedes is found a few minutes later abandoned behind a Home Depot. Her purse and cell phone are missing. So are her black and white Puma shoes.

No one sees the killer. To this day, he's a ghost.

"It's been a very hard and sad year for me," said Gorenberg's mother, Idey Elias. "And whoever he is, he's still out there doing these evil things."

___

August 7, 2007

A 30-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son leave the Town Center mall on a balmy afternoon and head for their black Lincoln Navigator in Nordstrom's parking garage.

The woman puts her son in his car seat and loads her purchases in the back.

She gets behind the wheel and is startled to see a man sitting beside her child with a gun to his head. The gunman is dark-skinned, about 5'11", 180 pounds, wearing sunglasses and a full-brimmed floppy hat, possibly with a ponytail.

"Take whatever you want, just don't hurt us," she tells him.

The man orders the woman to drive to an ATM where she withdraws $600.

He then orders her into the back seat, where he binds her feet with plastic ties, secures her hands with cheap novelty handcuffs and fixes her neck to the headrest with another tie.

He's calm but threatens to kill her. She doesn't resist. They drive back to the mall where he puts a pair of blacked-out swim goggles over her eyes.

He asks if she's OK, even gets her a drink of water and her inhaler for asthma. Then he disappears.

The woman eventually frees herself.

"He took my license and told me if his picture was on the news that he would come after me ... and my son," she would later say. "I'm terrified."

She has concealed her identity from the public out of fear for her own and child's safety, appearing before reporters on the condition that her name and face not be shown.

Three days after she was attacked, the same man is believed to have robbed a woman at gunpoint in a parking garage at another nearby shopping area.

___

Dec. 13, 2007

It's just after midnight at the mall. A security guard making his rounds notices a black SUV idling in the parking lot and calls police.

The Bochicchios are dead inside.

Just 10 hours earlier, Nancy Bochicchio picked up Joey from her second grade class for a doctor's appointment. The inseparable pair then hit the mall.

They enter between Neiman Marcus and Sears and come out the same way less than an hour later, spotted on surveillance video, their long shadows trailing them in the afternoon light.

Video from a nearby bank then shows their car at a drive-through ATM.

Bochicchio withdraws $500. No one knows what happens next but the killer.

Both are bound in the exact manner as the August victim. Their eyes, too, are covered with blacked-out goggles.

A Dozen Recommendations by Chinese Intellectuals Urging Dialogue Between China and Dalai Lama

A group of prominent Chinese intellectuals has circulated a petition urging the government to stop what it has called a “one-sided” propaganda campaign and initiate direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

The petition, which was signed by more than two dozen writers, journalists and scholars contains 12 recommendations which, taken together, represent a sharp break from the Chinese government’s response to the wave of demonstration that have swept Tibetan areas of the country in recent days.

Not God: Dalai Lama

Last October, when the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Dalai Lama, monks in Tibet watched over the Internet and celebrated by setting off fireworks and throwing barley flour. They were quickly arrested.

It was for the release of these monks that demonstrators initially turned out this month. Their brave stand quickly metamorphosed into a protest by Lhasa residents who were angry that many economic advantages of the last 10 or 15 years had gone to Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. A young refugee whose family is still in Tibet told me this week of the medal, “People believed that the American government was genuinely considering the Tibet issue as a priority.” In fact, the award was a symbolic gesture, arranged mostly to make American lawmakers feel good.

A similar misunderstanding occurred in 1987 when the Dalai Lama was denounced by the Chinese state media for putting forward a peace proposal on Capitol Hill. To Tibetans brought up in the Communist system — where a politician’s physical proximity to the leadership on the evening news indicates to the public that he is in favor — it appeared that the world’s most powerful government was offering substantive political backing to the Dalai Lama. Protests began in Lhasa, and martial law was declared. The brutal suppression that followed was orchestrated by the party secretary in Tibet, Hu Jintao, who is now the Chinese president.

A Movie For All Times: 'Stranger Than Fiction'

Up until I saw (multiple times) 'STRANGER THAN FICTION' with Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman I would have emphatically stated that 'THE FOUR SEASONS' with Alan Alda and Carol Burnett (among others) and 'ORDINARY PEOPLE' with Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton were my favorite movies.

Of course, for me at least, 'Ordinary People' is about accepting one's strength to survive and living with one's disappointment in others. 'The Four Seasons' is about maintaining a group integrity through tolerance of others' and of one's own weaknesses.

Now, I have to say that one of my favorite movies ever is this quirky film 'Stranger than Fiction' in which the little, seemingly insignificant events and even objects in our lives take on enormous import in saving us.

I love these three movies, teaching me to accept my strength, tolerate my weaknesses and tolerate the weaknesses of others. The last continues to teach me that 'all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.' Funny, I doubt the screenwriter had this in mind. But, who knows?

Hispanic High Schoolers Fly Mexican Flag Above American Flag Flying Upside-Down

I received this piece of information from a friend who presently lives and works in California. What's up with this? Is this an act of 'free speech?'

The protestors put up the Mexican flag over the American flag flying upside down at Montebello High School in California.

Speaking of free speech, does anyone remember the screenplay of THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT in which Andrew Shepherd states:

Everybody knows American isn't easy. America is
advanced citizenship.
You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's
gonna put up a fight. It's gonna
say, "You want free speech? Let's
see you acknowledge a man whose words
make your blood boil, who's standing
center stage and advocating, at the
top of his lungs, that which you
would spend a lifetime opposing at the
top of yours. You want to claim
this land as the land of the free,
then the symbol of your country can't
just be a flag; the symbol also has
to be one of its citizens exercising
his right to burn that flag in
protest." Show me that, defend that,
celebrate that in your classrooms.
Then you can stand up and sing about
the land of the free.

Amanda Baggs' IN MY LANGUAGE

In the March 2008 issue of WIRED magazine, David Wolman has written an article "The Truth About Autism: Everything You Know Is Wrong" which I highly recommend.

Too Sick Or Not Sick Enough: Waiting For Organ Transplants

Rob Stein of THE WASHINGTON POST reports:

"The wait list is dishonest," said Donna L. Luebke, a nurse who said she was rebuked by UNOS [United Network for Organ Sharing] officials when she complained about the list near the end of the three years she served on the organization's board of directors. "The public deserves to know the true numbers."

The revelation comes at a time when advocates of organ donation have come under fire for using increasingly aggressive strategies to obtain organs, justifying their efforts by citing the long and steadily growing waiting list.

"Part of the argument for the push to get more people to be donors, and for expanding the types of procedures that we do to get organs, is there's all these people waiting for organs and dying in the meantime," said Joan McGregor, a bioethicist at Arizona State University. "If the number is not accurate, that's giving people the false impression that the situation is more serious than it is. It's deceptive."

Most inactive patients had been ineligible for at least a year -- and often for more than two years. More than 55 percent of the patients on the list for hearts, and nearly 49 percent waiting for livers, had been inactive for more than two years. Nearly half of those waiting for kidneys had been inactive for at least a year -- and nearly a third for more than two years.

"I could expect people to be on there for months potentially," said Arthur L. Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania bioethicist. "But more than two years? What's that about?"

"The list is what they use for propaganda. It's the marketing tool. It's always: 'The waiting list. The waiting list. The growing waiting list,' " Luebke said. "It's what they use to argue that we need more organs. But it's dishonest."

The size of the list could be particularly important to people who are considering becoming a "living donor" by donating a kidney or a piece of their lung, liver or pancreas -- a practice that has spurred intense debate over whether such donors are fully counseled about the risks.

Exaggerating the size of the list is also unfair to active recipients, said Luebke, who donated a kidney to her sister in 1994.

A Darker Side: Aggressive Breast Cancer

A protein that triggers aggressive breast cancer from PhysOrg.com

SATB1 is a nuclear protein well known for its crucial role in regulating gene expression during the differentiation and activation of T cells, making it a key player in the immune system. But SATB1 has now revealed a darker side: it is an essential contributing factor in the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.

[...]

African Daisy: Photo At Capnbob

Exposed Passport Files: 'Imprudent Curiosity'

Those few incidents [of accessing passport data] were likely "imprudent curiosity," [McCormack, State Department spokesman] said.

"I don't have exact numbers for you, but every single year there's probably a handful of cases where you have unauthorized access to passport data," McCormack told a news briefing.

The issue of exposed passport files came to light during the past two days as the State Department revealed the files of the three presidential contenders, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, had been accessed without authorization.

A State Department source said passport files contain scanned images of passport applications, birth date and basic biographical information, records of passport renewal and possibly citizenship information.

McCormack called the incidents "inexplicable" and "over the line."

He said whatever the circumstances, those responsible had ample warning to stay out of the files.

"Every single time they access a computer there's a reminder that comes up that says: The information you are about to access has Privacy Act restrictions on it and you are acknowledging that you have a need to know in order to do your job to access this file; and that if you are accessing it in an unauthorized manner, then there are potential penalties."

McCormack said the files of politicians and celebrities are flagged for extra attention on unauthorized access, but "the same kind of vigilance applies to every other passport application that we handle."

Clinton's file was accessed in a training situation as the passport office handled a "surge" of applications last summer, McCormack said, when a trainee was "encouraged to enter a family member's name, just for training purposes."

"This person chose Sen. Clinton's name. It was immediately recognized, they were immediately admonished. And it didn't happen again," he said.

The circumstances of the Obama and McCain incidents were under investigation.

In each instance, a computer-monitoring system, triggered when employees access the file of a high-profile person, caught the breaches, McCormack said, emphasizing the department's system "worked."

Star Explodes

Jesus and Self-Esteem

This morning as I drove to work in the early minutes prior to sunrise, I thought of Jesus. I wondered if Jesus ever regretted something he said or something he did. Immediately, I realized that the answer is 'of course not.'

Think about it: Jesus never felt remorse. He never said to himself, 'I wish I'd handled that differently; I wish I hadn't said that. I wish I hadn't felt or thought that.' He always felt, thought, said and acted perfectly. Every time. Every situation.

I think perfection is hard to imagine. So, think of this: Jesus had no pride. He was meek, gentle, humble. Yet, he also had perfect self-esteem. He never hated himself, never looked down upon himself or wondered why he was born. He always knew that he was of value. He never looked in a mirror and questioned himself. Yet, he also never looked in a mirror and said 'I am better than anyone else.' He never looked down on others. Instead he loved himself and others perfectly.

Waterboarding Continues Under George Bush

George W Bush said today that he

vetoed legislation that would ban the Central Intelligence Agency from using harsh interrogation methods such as waterboarding to break suspected terrorists because it would end practices that have prevented attacks.

"The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror," Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address taped for broadcast Saturday. "So today I vetoed it."

Barack Obama Takes Wyoming

The victory [by a very wide margin] while in a state with only 18 delegates, was welcome news for the Obama campaign as it sought to blunt Mrs. Clinton’s momentum coming off her victories in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday.

Mariology: My First Forage Into This Mystery

A quick read of several chapters in 'In Search of Mary' to try once more to understand something of the Roman Catholic view of Mary and perhaps some of the Christian (Protestant) view of her revealed that it was in the early 2nd century that three men (early Church fathers) began to call Mary 'the new Eve.'

Justin Martyr (d.c 165) appears to be the first of the Church fathers to state the Eve-Mary relationship in his 'Dialogue with Trypho.' He saw Eve as the one who introduced sin into the world by succumbing to Satan's sexual advance. Eve then became a threat to male Christian virtue, at least according to the author of 'In Search of Mary.'

The other two early Church fathers who called Mary the new Eve were Irenaeus and Tertullian.

And that's the extent of my notes...so far.

Southwest Airlines Fined For Operating Flights Without Mandatory Inspections

Andy Pasztor writes:

Accusing Southwest Airlines Co. of serious and deliberate safety violations, federal aviation regulators proposed a record $10.2 million civil penalty against the carrier for operating more than 61,000 flights over nearly a year without performing mandatory inspections for potentially hazardous structural problems.

The penalty is believed to be the largest such fine ever imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration on a major U.S. passenger carrier. The maintenance problems have prompted investigations by the Department of Transportation and a congressional committee, which are looking at both the low-fare carrier and allegations of lax oversight by the FAA.

I can't remember if I've ever flown on a Southwest Airline. I am now hoping that I never have, at least not in the past year!

Calling Mike Huckabee To Set His Sights On 2012

I think Mike Huckabee should start thinking ahead to the presidential election of 2012!

More On the Killings of Israeli Students by a Terrorist Group

Witnesses said the gunman went into a crowded hall during dinner at the Mercaz Harav seminary in the city's Kiryat Moshe quarter and opened fire.

The assailant, who Israeli police said was a resident of East Jerusalem, was shot dead by an Israeli army officer.

The attack is the worst of its kind in Israel for a number of years.

The White House has led international condemnation but the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas called the attack "heroic" while not claiming responsibility.

When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor

A previously unknown group called the "Jalil Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" claims to have carried it out, according to Lebanese Hezbollah media.

'We Did It' Re: NY Bombing

Police are investigating letters that arrived Thursday at Capitol Hill offices containing a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and including the claim "We Did It."

The manila envelopes contained a photo of a man standing in front of the recruiting station, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card.

The message on the card: "Happy New Year, We Did It."

Curse-Free Town Proposed By 14 Year Old Teen

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. - This tranquil community on the edge of Los Angeles has become a cursing-free zone.

Under a City Council proclamation approved Wednesday, those who use profanity or make rude gestures could find themselves shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glances of South Pasedena residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.

Havoc in Israeli School: Eight Killed

A gunman entered a prominent Jewish seminary in the heart of Jerusalem Thursday night, killing at least eight students and wounding at least nine others, three of them seriously, the Israeli police said.

In a scene of havoc and confusion while the students prayed, the gunman killed two people at the entrance to the Mercaz Harav yeshiva and then entered the first-floor library, spraying the religious students with gunfire from a Kalashnikov rifle, according to the Israeli police.

The gunman, who has not yet been identified, was thought to be either a Palestinian or an Israeli Arab living inside Jerusalem. The dead were thought to be mostly between 20 and 30 years of age.