Since 2005, 155 million consumer records have been reported breached as a result of newly instituted state-data-loss notification laws that require companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies, and merchants to report all suspected breaches of consumer credit information. This is terrifying given that Gartner, banking security analyst, Avivah Litan estimates 15 million Americans will become victims of identity theft in 2007 resulting in an average loss of $3,257

One of the most common identity theft scams is to open new accounts under another consumer’s name and to date the best protection against this type of fraud is a credit- freeze, says credit consultants and fraud investigators. A credit-freeze bars the credit bureau from issuing your credit report and because few lenders will issue credit without first seeing a credit score, identity thieves can’t use stolen data to open new accounts. Therefore, the credit freeze, out of anything else that’s been conceived, has potential to be the most effective tool for preventing crocks from fraudulently using your Social Security number or other personal data to open new accounts.

Fortunately, for consumers the last two years has seen an onrush of states passing legislation that will empower the consumer to freeze access to their credit histories in an effort to prevent identity theft. However, while good for consumers the big three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, whose combined annual revenue exceeds $4 billion, continue to lobby Washington to stop this trend since it will limit their ability to sell consumer information to lenders who target consumers with junk mail and telemarketing campaigns.

Nevertheless, consumers are demanding protection against identity theft and of date 35 states have passed credit-freeze legislation and the remaining 15 remaining states are considering passing similar laws in the near future. Therefore in an effort to defuse this trend the CDIA (Consumer Data Industry Association) has spent a whopping $1.4 million dollars, in 2006 alone, on federal lobbying efforts that have at times found friendly ears in Washington, D.C. There failure, however, resonates throughout America with the result being Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas introduction of a national credit-freeze bill, based on the California standard – a $10 per bureau fee and certified mail application, which would be folded into a broader data security data bill co-sponsored by Senators Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Ted Stevens of Alaska.

However, Susanna Montezemolo, senior legislative representative for AARP states that “We don’t want a federal law unless it is stronger than state laws.” And adds “She cannot imagine Congress will move on a weak, pre-emptive credit-freeze bill given the number of high-profile data breaches.  

While this would be good news for consumers, this bill needs to be amended to allow the consumer to quickly unseal their account when they need a creditor to have access to it. This would be similar to a “quick thaw” that could then be refrozen as soon as the necessary information was retrieved by the reputable company seeking the information.

I know that I for one am all in favor of this bill as identity theft is something that all of us live in fear of.

Tags: fraud, identity theft, credit-freeze, cdia, consumer data industry association

If you’re a retired homeowner and need extra income, a reverse mortgage may be the answer.

Like many retirees, Kelsey Garman states, you may be house rich and cash poor. By that, he means that most of your assets are in your paid for, or nearly paid for, house. For example he says, you may own a $200,000 house, but don’t have enough income to live comfortably because the money tied up in your house doesn’t earn anything.

One answer, of course, would be to sell your home and buy a cheaper one possibly in another state, but most of us don’t want to do that even if it would free up some money. If that is the case then you may seriously want to consider a reverse mortgage.

To apply for a reverse mortgage the youngest homeowner must be at least 62 years of age or older. Then, if you qualify, a reverse mortgage will allow you to receive a tax-free monthly payment for as long as you live in and use your house as your primary residence. Fortunately, your home doesn’t have to be paid in full to qualify as long as you designate a cash advance from the mortgage to pay off the balance. Remember, this alone can reduce your living expenses by eliminating your house, tax, and insurance payments.

The way a reverse mortgage works is opposite of the way that a traditional one does. To explain it one must realize that with a traditional mortgage your income is turned into equity and with reverse mortgages your equity is turned into income. In other words, when you bought your home you had income and wanted to build equity but now you have equity and want income. In both cases you use debt to turn what you have into what you want.

In a reverse mortgage where you still owe a balance on the original cost of the house the mortgage doesn’t come due until the house is sold, or the last surviving homeowner dies. If you sell the house, however, the mortgage will be paid off from the proceeds of the sale and you will receive the balance. If you and your spouse die and the house is sold, the mortgage will be paid off and the balance paid to the estate of the last surviving homeowner.

On the plus side you can never be forced to sell your house to pay off the mortgage. Even if you receive monthly payments until you’re 110 or the value of your house declines so that the amount paid to you exceeds the value of the house you will still receive monthly payments and be allowed to remain in your home.

A reverse mortgage is not borrowing in the usual sense since borrowing usually means taking an advance on money you haven’t earned yet. In other words, you borrow today believing that you’ll earn enough in the future to repay the loan.

While a reverse mortgage is technically borrowing it isn’t borrowing against future income but rather it’s borrowing against home equity that you’ve built up. So you’re not counting your chickens before they hatch but rather you’re hatching the nest egg that you’ve already earned and saved.

With a traditional mortgage you pay back your loan with monthly payments. If you lose your job or your health, you could lose your home. But with a reverse mortgage you receive monthly payments no matter what happens.

The amount of the monthly payment a reverse mortgage can generate depends on your age and the location of your home. Using the $200,000 value of a home, for example, at age 66 you would receive monthly payments of about $620. if you prefer, you can take a lump sum payment rather than monthly payments.

The downside of reverse mortgages is the fees can be as high as 6 percent of the value of your house but not all reverse mortgages are equal and you can probably find a better deal than 6 percent.

Reverse mortgages aren’t necessary or desirable for every retiree. But if you think that you , or someone in your family, might benefit from one, do a lot of research. Be careful, and watch out for scams.

The best source of unbiased information is probably the National Center for Home Equity Conversion. You can visit their extensive website at www.reverse.org .

Tags: reverse mortgages, money, loans, borrowing, mortgage, national centerd for home equity conversion, additional income, seniors, kelsey garman

Remember in the 70s when pop wines first came into the market place to lure new drinkers in by sweetening their product for young users well now drug manufacturers have decided to try the same technique. The promise that lures many users of the old style meth in has been increased energy to help them get through long often stress-filled days. However, while users may indeed be energized at first we all know the sad tale of addiction that follows.

Previously, police officials believed that meth was the drug of hardcore drug users but now it appears that destroying thousands of lives isn’t enough so drug manufacturers have decided to open their own little candy stores filled with everything from chocolate to strawberry flavored varieties of the dangerous drug to lure in new, as well as, younger users. The belief is apparently that better packaging may entice those who would otherwise avoid this deadly drug.

The type of flavored meth that has garnered the widest attention to date is called strawberry meth or “strawberry quick” after a popular flavor-in for milk. Enforcement officials nationwide on the alert for information regarding this specific type of drug so that they can take pro-active measures to keep it out of the hands of young people who are the target of these dealers who are only interested in the dollars and cents involved in making new addicts.

However, while this is yet another frightening subject that parents must confront their children with it is nothing new. From LSD lollipops, to marijuana brownies, to chocolates laced with hallucinogenics, pushers have always done everything they can to sell their wares. However, because these drugs resemble foods kids crave, children are particularly susceptible. For parents his means being ever vigilant that your child doesn’t take any sort of ingestible food from strangers since no one knows what a drug pusher looks like. Another caution from officials is that meth is not relegated to any one sector of society which means that it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor your child could be in danger from this new type of candy.

Tags: drug addiction, meth, flavored meth, strawberry quick, drug manufacturers, prevent childhood drug addiction

During the last few weeks we have done more flying than I had ever thought possible, but the layovers and cancelations were enough to drive a sane person crazy. One flight in May, using American airlines was delayed by weather and was therefore understandable but since then several flights by other carriers have been canceled or delayed due to overbooking, crew shortages, and plane mechanical problems. One flight was actually run on schedule but had no air conditioning, causing my seatmate, an elderly lady with a pacemaker, to actually become ill.

However, while all the major airlines appear to be causing passengers an equal amount of grief resulting in booming business for airline concessioniers, Northwest cancellations seem to top them all. Within this airline pilots are blaming management for poor scheduling while the carrier itself is attempting to place all the blame on bad weather. However, no matter what the reason, Northwest has canceled more than 850 flights in the last week alone, mostly because of crew shortages that management blames on disrupted work schedules from past bad weather.

According to tracker FlightStats, Northwest on Monday canceled 10.9% of its 1,409 scheduled flights through 5 p.m. ET. That was, however, an improvement from Sunday when it canceled 14.2%, or 10 times the normal cancellation rate of the big airlines during good weather.

Compare its rate to Delta, Continental, or United, with a cancellation rate of under 1% on Monday and American and Southwest a rate of just under 2.5% and one will think twice before booking on Northwest. Northwest, of course, immediately hit the defensive claiming that the cancelation rate in recent weeks was due to severe weather in the East and Midwest that caused increased crew duty time and the inability to consistently position aircraft and crews as needed. Given this it is little wonder that if one figures 125 passengers per plane that more than 100,000 travelers had their Northwest flights canceled this past week. For business travelers and those who needed to return to work this may have increased the cost of their plane ticket two-fold.

I know from personal experience, having looked anxiously ahead for my flight, last Tuesday, United subjected us to numerous delays before finally canceling our flight. This frustration was increased, however, as I was then forced to stand in an hour long line hoping to be one of the fortunate ones to get on a later flight. However, this was nothing compared to a fellow traveler who had already been subjected to a plane cancellation on Sunday only to find herself still unable to get home.

So while Northwest insists that it is relaxing ticket restrictions and reservations staffing to deal with the situation the Airline Pilots Association said that Northwest’s management should have foreseen the end-of-the-month crew shortage. This has resulted in a vote of “no confidence” from the union in the carrier’s management practices, after its failure to recall 396 pilots who remain on layoff.

An additional problem that may cause concern among travelers according to Monty Montgomery, head of ALPA’s communication committee, is the airline’s scheduling of pilots. Apparently, Northwest is currently requiring its pilots to fly at the monthly limits set by their contract and by federal safety regulations making for crews that may not be as sharp in the air as they need to be. Overall, as of last week, statistics show that between Friday and Monday Northwest had the largest number of canceled flights which day ranging from a low of a 7% cancellation rate to a unbelievable 14.2% while United over that same period was forced to cancel a maximum of .9% on any single day.

Tags: northwest airlines, airline cancellations, united airlines, traveler’s delays, pilots, crew shortages, travel nightmares, flightstats

At 56 one might think that a diagnosis of arthritis is a little early but sad to say even some children are affected by this debilitating condition.

One early symptom of the disease is viewable to the naked eye as tiny bumps that develop on the top knuckles of one’s fingers or increased stiffness of finger and/or wrist joints. Osteoarthritis is the most common kind of arthritis and has often been described as the “wear and tear” arthritis. However, it isn’t just usage that causes these joints to develop arthritis but also aging, genes, previous injury, and hormones.

While this type of arthritis is infrequent prior to age 40 it is often diagnosed in the 50s.

What happens is that the cartilage that covers the ends of two bones splits causing fissures which crumble over time. The result is stiff,  painful joints that increases with activity. Osteoarthritis most often affects the hands, fingers, knees, hips, the lower back and neck. 

One form of osteoarthritis is more common in women, occurring in the fingers and hands. The small nodules or bumps that form on the knuckles are known as Heberden’s nodes and are definitive indicators of osteoarthritis. These bumps are actually bony growths.

Fortunately, osteoarthritis is a slowly progressive illness that often remains limited to the hands and fingers. For more information on this disease you may obtain a booklet by writing Dr. Donahue - No. 301, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Your request will need to be accompanied by a check or money order for $4.75 with your name and address attached to it.

To find more information on arthritis you can use your google search engine.

Tags: arthritis, osteoarthritis, disease diagnosis, dr. donahue, stiff fingers, bony growths, nodules, age-related diseases

A story I read in a magazine uses the illustration of an impatient driver waiting at an intersection as a pedestrian crosses too slowly in front of him. The driver leans out of the window and yells, “Get out of the street you (bleep) liberal.”

The story is probably just made up, but it sure feels true, doesn’t it? That is because we are no longer a nation of red, white, and blue - or so we have been told. Now we’re simply red or blue. That is we are either squishy, egg-headed, godless liberals who exist along the nation’s coasts or we are principled, tough, instinctive, God-fearing conservatives from the nation’s heartland. Unfortunately, it is a mantra that has been quoted so often that many of us no longer question it, which means of course that conservatism has triumphed and liberalism is dead.

Paul Waldman, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, however, believes that we as Americans have been had. He states that “We’ve been told by conservatives and by the mainstream media for years that this is a conservative country, but if you actually look at the facts you will find that this is a myth.”

In his Miami Herald article, The myth of Conservative Triumph, Leonard Pitts states that Media Matters is a liberal activist group that has assembled said facts in a report earlier this month that explains this myth. In its report the group takes on issue after issue and clearly relates a picture starkly at odds with the conservative stereotype. One such issue is abortion, in which sixty-one percent of us oppose overturning Roe vs. Wade with that same percentage supporting the use of stem cells for research. In the matter of guns, a whopping sixty percent of Americans are in favor of more restrictions. With these positions tending toward liberalism, how is it that we have come to think of “liberal” as a bad thing to be?

Perhaps it is because the GOP has managed to rebrand liberal as something so repugnant that you wouldn’t want to touch it. However, no matter how much the Republicans tout the good of conservatism, it is a fact that Americans are clearly moving to the left all the time. For example, Pitts illustrates with the thirty-year-old debate over if it were possible for a woman to do a man’s work and if it was proper for black and white Americans to marry. Looking at these radical questions from that bygone era, it is interesting to note that today the general consensus is that these issues are dependent on the individuals themselves and not for society to judge.

This leaves this reviewer to agree that a nation which, for the most part, supports gun control, abortion rights, and stem cell research is not a conservative stronghold but a much more tolerant society that leans towards liberalism and acceptance for all its citizens. Could this mean that the conservative propaganda is being forced down our throats by the conservative leaning evangelicals and their support groups in the hopes of convincing the rest of us that our standards and principles are in the minority? I will leave that for you to decide for yourself.

Tags: conservatism, american politics, liberalism, leonard pitts, paul waldman, media matters, americans stand on abortion, americans stand on gun rights, americans stand on stem cell research, abortion, stem cell research, gun control

As support wavers for Bush’s Immigration bill the fate of 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. goes into limbo for another round of debates in the Senate. The bill which garnered fragile support in early June, has after sensitive negotiations with the White House, been resurrected and awaits a crucial test vote this week. However, given it sensitive nature many senators are distancing themselves from the proposal making the outcome too close to call.

According to Jim Abrams of the Associated Press the bill would tighten borders, require workplace verification, and create a guest worker program, as well as, lay out a means by which the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country could gain legal status and work toward citizenship. In his weekly radio address, President Bush is pushing this measure while admitting that it “could be the last major legislative achievement of his presidency.”

While generally Republican’s demand tighter border security and oppose any policy that suggests amnesty have found many in their ranks backing away from the bill due to pressure from their home districts and even Democrats are taking hits from their normal allies who say the bill is bad for workers. Senator Ted Kennedy who endorses the bill stated that this is a bill of such import that it has already involved 39 hearings, 23 days of debate, and 52 amendments to make it viable and that this issue has become such a terrible problem in the US that it demands action on the part of the senate.

However, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama criticizes the bill arguing that support is plummeting not just among senators but by the public, including Hispanic groups who say the provisions in the bill to obtain visas place too much emphasis on skills, to the disadvantage of family ties.

So while the public can only wait and see what the senate will do, passage will send the issue to the House where Democrats have promised to take it up at an early date.

Tags: immigration bill, amnesty, current events, bush, radio address, ted kennedy, hispanic groups, senate passage, senate bill, major legislation

Good news for Summer Travelers as USA airfares have dropped for the first time since 2004 making the average ticket for a domestic round trip ticket around $340, which is 2% less than last year. The drop is due in part to the airlines scheduling more seats this summer than in 2006 without the necessary customer demand to fill those seats. An example of these low fares can be seen on typical round trip between Washington D.C. and Orlando, Fl. where the regular wound trip ticket is as low as $138, down from $178.

Another reason for the decrease has been the growth of low-fare carriers that have curbed the industry’s ability to raise fares despite the traditional airlines reducing or just maintaining the number of available seats on their domestic routes. However, analyst Ray Neidl of Calyon Securities states that domestic travelers should by their tickets soon as prices may rebound next month as airlines have been holding some seats off the market to sell at higher prices at the last minute.

This doesn’t stop AAA from recommending that flying within the continguous USA this summer is the only way to go considering the near-record-high cost of gasoline and even Rick Seaney, of FareCompare.com agrees that certain flights are indeed a good bargain but says not to look for the same bargains on coast-to-coast tickets that are tracking higher. Betsy Sell with  AAA also noted that international fares are costing on average 10%more compared to last year and stated, “It is difficult to find seats at a bargain; they’re just not out there for international flights.”

Tags: airfares, traveling, air travel, travel deals, international flights, domestic flights

Ryan Lenz of the Associated Press reported on June 22, 2007, that a bill has been introduced by Representative Brad Ellsworth, from southern Indiana’s 8th District, that will require that all new mobile homes be equipped with early warning radios to alert residents of dangerous weather conditions. This legislation comes as the aftermath of a deadly tornado that hit on the outskirts of Evansville, Indiana, in the pre-dawn hours of November 6, 2005 in which 25 people lost their lives.

The bill would require mobile homes to come with the state-the-art radios installed like smoke detectors and are aimed at alerting residents so that they can seek nearby shelters before diaster strikes. It is hoped that the additional construction of severe weather shelters and ordinances requiring that mobile homes be properly anchored, along with the early warning systems will help to prevent such catastropic loss of lives in the future.

However, opponents of the bill argue that the radios would not be cost effective in large scale production for mobile home manufacturers. This seems ludicrous when one realizes that the cost per unit is typically only $30.

Tags: mobile homes, anchoring of mobile homes, installing weather radios, tornado shelters, evansville, in, new bill

George Pataki, 2008 GOP presidential hopeful, has been the governor of New York for the last 12 years. He describes himself as pro-choice and has made no effort to restrict abortion rights even going so far as to sign a bill granting Medicaid coverage of RU-486, the abortion pill, however, he recently vetoed a bill allowing minors to purchase emergency contraception without a prescription.

Pataki has also taken the high road in signing an antidiscrimination bill and new hate crimes legislation protecting bisexuals, lesbians, and gay men. He has also signed a bill granting crime victim compensation funds to the surviving partners of 9/11 victims and opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment in the belief that this matter should be decided by individual states.

As governor of New York, Pataki took the Republican stance on immigration by establishing a toll-free Citizenship Unit hotline to help undocumented immigrants get legal and even signed a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at New York’s public colleges and universities. In addition he allocated $2.5 million to immigration nonprofits and established a program to protect undocumented immigrants from con artists.

His conservative views, however, surfaced regarding the issue of the death penalty when he attempted to get it reinstated in 1995, even though the New York Supreme Court later struck it his measure down. However, he has taken a more mainstream Democratic stand on issues regarding gun control

Tags: george pataki, gop presidential hopeful, new york governor, 2008 candidate, death penalty, gun control, abortion, amnesty, gay rights