Audio Stalking - A New Way To Watch You

Photo Credit: London Times

It always feels like ..., someone is watching meeeeeee!

We are aware that businesses and municipalities have been installing cameras all over for security purposes, but did you know that if you are in the proximity of a cellphone user that, inadvertently, your conversations might be picked up and monitored as well?

You may become a part of a larger survey to gage advertising exposure without your permission, and worse, without your knowledge.

At least, when you are out in public, you know you may be watched ... for your own safety. With this new technology it is possible that you may now be exposed to monitoring within your own home ... without your knowledge.

This from the Wall Street Journal -

Ad Measurement Is Going High Tech
Explosion of Media Offerings Complicates Finding Whether Message Is Getting Through
By DON CLARK - April 6, 2006; Page B4

Media companies have long searched, with mixed results, for proof that advertising works. Some high-tech help may be on the way.

A number of established audience-measurement companies and industry newcomers are developing tools to better gauge the connection between media exposure and consumer behavior. The audience-measurement job is more complicated these days because of an explosion of media offerings in and outside the home.

A dark horse in the race is Integrated Media Measurement Inc., a start-up led by some prominent technology entrepreneurs that is using specially adapted cellphones to measure what consumers listen to and see. The company has developed software that helps the phones take samples of nearby sounds, which are identified by comparing them against a database.

Besides television and radio, IMMI, as the San Mateo, Calif., company calls itself, says the technology can track exposure to CDs, DVDs, videogames, sporting events, audio and video on portable gadgets and movies in theaters. The closely held company has been testing its system for nine months with about 200 consumers in Sacramento, Calif., and hopes to help answer some tricky questions. They include:

• How often are TV shows watched outside the home?

• Which songs prompt listeners to change radio stations?

• Which movie trailers get viewers to go to the theater?

"For the first time, you may be able to get an answer to one of the holy-grail questions -- is my promo working?" says Alan Wurtzel, president of research for General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal unit, who has been briefed on the IMMI system. "It's a very interesting methodology."
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Some companies argue that cellphones could lead to distorted research. Survey participants, for example, could change how often they carry or converse on phones or download content to them.

Arbitron Inc. instead proposes a special-purpose gadget called the portable People Meter, which it has been testing in Houston. GfK AG's Mediamark Research Inc. also is developing a pager-size media-measurement device.
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With conventional media ratings, "we don't have the opportunity to take a look at cause and effect," said Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president of research and sales development at ESPN, which has been evaluating IMMI's service. "What we see so far is very interesting and very compelling."
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Say again? What's that program you're watching?

Technology creep and privacy, it is becoming a big issue.

Of Flag Burning To Flag Banning In Colorado

A group of students hold an immigration protest across the street from Skyline High School in Longmont, Colo., on Friday, after school officials denied the students to protest on campus. Daily Times-Call photo by Richard M. Hackett via Associated Press

Civil protests take on many forms. The displaying our nation's flag, for ANY reason, should not be considered to be an insightful or negative act.

In Colorado, the nationally mandated education establishment felt it was perfectly ok to ban the display of the American Flag.

In the morally equivalent world of academia, if the Mexican Flag waved in protest to the wish of American citizens of having our immigration laws be respected, then the display of the American Flag in support of the American rule-of-law must be insulting as well.

This is a prime example of why "home schooling" and "vouchers" alternatives to the present education system have been gaining popularity. The "inmates" have come to run the asylum!

Excerpts frim the Washington Times Insider -

Colorado school drops ban on flags
By Valerie Richardson - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - April 8, 2006

DENVER -- Students at Shaw Heights Middle School wore Old Glory on their T-shirts without fear of reprisal yesterday after their principal bowed to community pressure to drop the school's flag ban.

Principal Myla Shepherd canceled the ban late Thursday night after an outcry from parents, students and state leaders, including Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, who said the school rule violated state law.
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Ms. Shepherd said she changed the dress code March 31 after nationwide immigration rallies led to "some unrest and increased tensions among students." Some students taunted each other with U.S. and Mexican flags, while several dozen students wore camouflage one day in support of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Another Colorado school, Skyline High School in Longmont, enacted a ban on flag displays after some students threw U.S. and Mexican flags in each other's faces. Skyline also lifted the prohibition yesterday.

The about-face came shortly after Mr. Suthers sent letters to the schools Thursday along with copies of the state statute, which states that the right to display the U.S. flag "shall not be infringed with respect to the display: (a) On an individual's person; (b) Anywhere on an individual's personal or real property."

"While schools can and should act to prevent conduct by students that interferes with the education process, their remedy must be narrowly tailored and cannot include a general ban on displaying the American flag," Mr. Suthers said.
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Eric Golgart, whose sixth-grade daughter, Katie, was suspended Thursday for wearing a Marines T-shirt, said the superintendent promised to expunge the suspensions from the students' records.

Still, Mr. Golgart said he wanted to see Ms. Shepherd resign her post and issue an apology to the U.S. Marine Corps.

"As soon as she started suspending kids, it got personal," said Mr. Golgart. "One girl who was suspended has a brother and sister-in-law fighting in Iraq. She's been wearing these shirts all year."
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So now, in Colorado anyway, it is ok to NOT be suspended from attendance to the nationally mandated education system for showing support for our military (national employees) or displaying our American flag (our nation’s symbol). Thank GOD!

Please tell Mr. Golart that he will be waiting until the U.S. becomes part of Mexico, or a Muslim nation for the principal (Mrs. Shepard) to resign her post and give that apology to our troops.

Of course, if the "inmates" carry the day with their version of Ward Churchill like attitudes and philosophy ... the apology may not be that far off!

Is It Racism, Or "Just Another One Of Them Racing Deals"?

(ht: Michelle Malkin)
From COX & FORKUM on Dateline planting Muslims in the stands to gage reaction.

As MAXINE sees it, given the three-fer in the middle, we'd be giving the 'raspberry' to the NBC camaraman (not the Jeff Gordon fan ... or the Muslim)!

Frenchie Lays It Down - Gains Seasons First Point

Sebastien Bourdais qualifies at Long Beach - Photo Credit: CCWS

The day was cool and so was the challange to be at the top of the point standings after today's first qualifing session of the season.

Excerpts from Champ Car website -

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

It took just 30 minutes for two-time defending Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford champion Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) to resume his place at the top of the point standings, as the Frenchman claimed the first available point of the 2006 season by leading Friday qualifying at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Bourdais earned the first point of the year and guaranteed himself a front-row starting spot for Sunday's season opener after posting a best lap of 1:07.675 (104.689 mph) to lead Friday qualifying at the 1.968-mile street circuit in Long Beach. Bourdais' fast lap ended a furious game of leapfrog atop the time charts, ending a chase that saw six different drivers hold the pole at various times throughout the 30-minute outing.

Bourdais headed a 1-2 Newman/Haas Racing sweep on a sunny Long Beach Friday, besting his teammate Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole in the Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) by 0.066 seconds. Junqueira, who ran his first Champ Car session since his devastating accident in last year's Indianapolis 500, hung up a time of 1:07.741 (104.587 mph) on just his fifth lap of the year, slipping into the second spot.

Four-time Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) showed his customary speed on the Southern California streets, ending his day in the third spot despite the fact that he banged the wall and shredded his right-rear tire with six minutes to go in the session. Tracy's best lap of 1:07.947 (104.270 mph) was the last of the 18-car field to card a time in the 67-second range on the day.
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So, tomorrow is the run for the pole, but Sebastian will get to be in the front row no matter what happens. Someone needs to break up the Newman/Haas Racing front row! Pray for our neighbor from the north (Tracy) doesn't keep banging the walls.

Beauty And The "Beach" - A Preview

Photo Credit: champcarworldseries.com

2006 is here and it really all begins (in LA) at the Long Beach Grand Prix. This year will be the 32nd year the vision of Chris Pook will be run in the streets of Long Beach.

It is this venue that helped add to the legends of racing elites like Mario and Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan, Alex Zanardi, Paul Tracy, and Sebastien Bourdais to name a few.

The green flag drops on the first qualifing session today at 2:05 PM PST. Sebastien Bourdais from the Newman-Haas Racing Team (ChampCar champion of the last two years) was second quickest to Justin Wilson in the testing sessions held last week at Fontana. Bourdais looks to be the first driver to "three-peat" as champion of an open-wheel racing series since Ted Horn did it through 1946-1948.

The beauty is the venue (photo above).

This from Robin Miller at Champ Car World Series -

ROBIN MILLER'S STRAIGHT FROM THE GEARBOX

There are several plausible reasons why Sebastien Bourdais won't walk away with his third straight Champ Car title this year.

Bruno Junqueira, three times a bridesmaid in this series, has the fire and experience to unseat his teammate at the top of the heap.

Justin Wilson, a two-time winner in 2005, is real comfortable with his surroundings as he begins his third season and he's got the team and talent to pull it off.

Paul Tracy, whose 30 victories are tops among active drivers, certainly possesses all the right stuff and has the added incentive of making up for last year's disappointment.

A.J. Allmendinger, a champion at every level during his still developing career, is as quick as anybody on four wheels and just needs to improve his consistency to be a challenger.

Oriol Servia, runner-up in the point standings a year ago, has moved to a new team but his smarts and savvy should bring out the best of PKV Racing.

Any or all of these drivers could unseat Bourdais but, at the end of the 15-race schedule, the championship is going to have to come through the 27-year-old Frenchman.
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"It's going to be a learning process but there are some very clever people on this team and we'll do our best to be competitive," said the 31-year-old Spainard, who will also be tutoring rookie teammate Katherine Legge.

At the end of the day, it's going to take an idiot to pick against Bourdais. Or somebody who flunked out of Ball State.

I'm going with Mr. Wilson in 2006 so that should make Sebass feel pretty confident
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By the way, this is a track where the IRL has never been!

UPDATE: from CCWS website -

Sebastien Bourdais paced the opening practice session of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season today, besting the 18-car field in Friday morning's 75-minute practice at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Bourdais got around the 1.968-mile street course in 1:08.948 (102.756 mph) to pace the morning's outing, coming in a tenth-of-a-second ahead of Team Australia's Alex Tagliani.

Tagliani (1:09.030) , A.J. Allmendinger (1:09.043), Justin Wilson (1:09.180) and Paul Tracy (1:09.225) rounded out the top five in the session, which was run without incident. Team Australia's Will Power led the six-car rookie class in the morning and was 10th overall.

NOTE: The first eight places were within one second of each other.

Da Vinci Code Found To Be "New" Fiction

A copy of the book The Da Vinci Code is displayed outside the High Court in London, February 27, 2006. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

Yes, Dan Brown did not steal (word for word) the fiction of the novel titled "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail".

Excerpts from Reuters -

“Da Vinci Code" publishers win case
By Gideon Long 42 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - The publishers of "The Da Vinci Code," the blockbuster novel by author Dan Brown, won their UK court case on Friday over accusations of plagiarism.
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Judge Peter Smith gave his verdict at the end of a trial which lasted nearly a month and was followed intensely by reporters, copyright lawyers and fans of the novel, which has sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

"The plaintiffs' case has failed," he said. "Dan Brown has not infringed copyright. None of this amounts to copying The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail."
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They had based their argument on the similarities between the books, which both raise the possibility Jesus had a child by Mary Magdalene, that she fled to France after the Crucifixion and that Christ's bloodline survives to this day.
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Cool, an "original work" of fiction. Now we can sleep.

When Is A Leak NOT A Leak?

Photo Credit: Slate.com

When the President asks someone to divulge the contents of a "formally classified" document to someone else.

Also, when the L.A. Times puts the story about what "Scooter Libby" testified to (according to court papers) on page A-20 ... that's all anyone really needs to know!

Excerpts from the New York Post -

DUBYA CAN'T LEAK
April 7, 2006 -- AND INFO WAS ALREADY PUBLIC
By John Podhoretz - Opinion

IT'S amazing how the common topics and subjects of discussion three years ago should vanish so quickly from memory.

Yesterday, breathless news reports suggested that President Bush had directed the "leak" of classified information in July 2003. Yet the "leak" in question was from a document called the National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE - and by the time this "leak" occurred, the contents of the NIE as they related to Iraq were almost entirely public.

On Oct. 7, 2002, nine months before Bush's supposed "leak," the administration released an unclassified version of the very same NIE at the urging of Senate Democrats. And in early 2003, reporters hostile to the administration (primarily John Judis and Spencer Ackerman of The New Republic) were being told all sorts of things about the still-classified portions of the NIE.

And this "leak" wasn't a leak in any case. A "leak" is the unauthorized release of government information. The leak of classified information is a crime. But according to Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to the vice president who gave the information from the NIE to a reporter, he only released it because he was authorized to do so by the president himself.

Constitutionally, the authority to declare documents "classified" resides with the president. So, under the terms of an executive order first drafted in 1982, he can declassify a document merely by declaring it unclassified.
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Also lost in the mists of recent memory is the reason we're talking about this in the first place. Fitzgerald is involved in this story because he was asked to investigate whether the public exposure of Mrs. Wilson's CIA employment was a crime. For it to be a crime, she had to be a covert CIA operative who had served in that capacity at some point in the five years prior to her exposure - and the person exposing her had to be doing it consciously and with knowledge that she was covert.
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Wilson's appalling lies were revealed in 2004. And yet, here we are, in 2006, fighting the same old battles. Guess this is what happens when you don't win a war quickly enough.
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Of course, that is the whole point. There is the world war against terrorism due to 9/11 ... and then there is the war for power inside the U.S. (which is also never won quickly enough) by people who will try to win at ANY COST.

The Democrats in congress first complain that the Bush administration is to secretive about what it is doing and "we" need more information. The Bush administration releases information so then the Democrats in congress complain that the information is a "leak". What is a President to do?

"Classified" information communicated to the press is NOT a leak when the President says it is NOT a leak. To the members of the fourth estate and the Democrats in congress ... get elected President, then you can do the same! Oh yes, you tried that in the last election (with Kerry) and FAILED.

Let's move on.

Creationism vs. Truth

Photo Credit: volny.cz

NBC works overtime to create news. Dateline, in a stroke of controversy genius, decided to plant ethnically dressed Muslims in the stands at a recent NASCAR automobile race and then tape and report on the reactions of the crowd.

With this kind of "set-up" we could only imagine how the editing is going to go.

Excerpts from AP -

Apr 5, 6:45 PM EDT
NASCAR: Dateline NBC's Plan 'Outrageous'
By JENNA FRYER AP Motorsports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR said it was "outrageous" that "Dateline NBC" targeted one of its race tracks last weekend for a possible segment on anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.

NASCAR said NBC confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Va., walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.

"It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said.
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"'Dateline' is looking into this story," NBC said in a statement. "We were intrigued by the results of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll and other articles regarding increasing anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States.

"It's very early on in our newsgathering process, but be assured we will be visiting a number of locations across the country and are confident that our reporting team is pursuing this story in a fair manner," it said.
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And one wonders WHY people do not tune in to Main Stream Media anymore. Let us just say we have a problem with their credibility when they, themselves, create the news. Remember Dan Rather and Mary Mapes in the run-up to the last presidential election? Oh, yea! That turned out well.

I love it that NBC lays the blame on pursuing this story because it was "intrigued by the results of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll". The MSM inciting the MSM - This is rich.

- Day By Day cartoon over at Partisan Pundit -

Of Faith & Floating Ice

A basilisk lizard, or Jesus lizard, runs across water during an experiment. These lizards can run across water for up to 15 feet (4.5 meters). Photograph courtesy PNAS

Excerpts from the Washington Post -

Floating Ice May Explain How Jesus Walked on Water, Researchers Say
By Alan Cooperman - Washington Post Staff Writer - Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page A03

Combining evidence of a cold snap 2,000 years ago with sophisticated mapping of the Sea of Galilee, Israeli and U.S. scientists have come up with a scientific explanation of how Jesus could have walked on water.

Their answer: It was actually floating ice.

The scientists acknowledge that the Sea of Galilee, in what is now northern Israel, has never frozen in modern times. But they say geological core samples suggest that average temperatures were lower in Jesus's day, and that there were at least two protracted cold spells in the region 1,500 to 2,500 years ago.

In addition to chilly weather, their explanation depends on a rare physical property of the Sea of Galilee, known to modern-day Israelis as Lake Kinneret. It is fed by salty springs along its western shore that produce plumes of dense water, thermally isolating areas that could freeze even if the entire lake did not, they assert.
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This is not the first time that Nof, 61, has attempted to debunk a biblical miracle. In 1992, he and Nathan Paldor, an atmospheric scientist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, wrote a scientific article proposing that strong winds across the narrow, shallow Gulf of Suez could have lowered the Red Sea by 10 feet, allowing the Israelites to cross to safety and then swallowing up an Egyptian army within a few minutes when the wind stopped, just as the book of Exodus says.

Nof, who described himself as a nonreligious Jew, said he hopes that critics will realize that he is an "equal opportunity miracle buster" who has taken on both Moses and Jesus.

"This isn't going to convince a believer not to believe, and nobody's trying to do that. At least, I'm not trying to do that," he said. "I personally believe that all these biblical stories are based on some truth."
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Wendy Cotter, professor of scripture at Loyola University Chicago, a Roman Catholic school, wrote her doctoral dissertation 15 years ago on biblical accounts of Jesus's stilling the wind and walking on the sea. When she heard about Nof's theory, she said, her first thought was: "Anything's possible -- but that's not what the writer means."

To the Romans, she said, the sea was "the ultimate force of nature, which was why the Caesars always claimed control over it." Jews in the time of Jesus also feared the sea and, moreover, were familiar with the Book of Job, in which God is described as the one who can "walk on the sea," she said.

In attributing to Jesus the power to walk across the waves, "Christians were using the imagery that had previously been used by both the Romans and the Jews to show that a person has been given authority by God," Cotter said. "Water, or ice, is not the point."
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I think MAXINE would rather "Aim At Heaven ...". It is time to read today's "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers - Prayer Edition.

Today's reading is titled - The Collision Of GOD And Sin ... and the prayer is ... O, Lord, I would praise Thee for Thy mighty Redemption at the heart of all our problems. By Thy great power raise us up to newness of life.

Good Day!

To FiOS, Or Not To FiOS - That Is The Question

For high-speed internet, there are more choices if you happen to live in lucky service areas. It not just a choice between DSL (formally fast) or cable access anymore.

This extensive review from CNET -

Some assembly required
By Matt Lake - CNET Reviews - April 3, 2006

Some roads to broadband Internet access are smooth. Because of this, they are the roads most traveled in the quest for ever more streaming video and a Web and e-mail experience without an overture of modem beeps.

Take DSL, if it's available in your area. Sign up for it, get a self-install kit, and after you've plugged in a few filters and installed the hardware and software you need, you're online. It's not as easy as installing AOL software, perhaps, but about the same price and a lot faster.

Or take cable. If you happen to have a cable outlet in the room where you'll be computing (or the one you're using for a wireless access point), you do another self-install. If you don't have a convenient outlet, you pay Comcast 50 bucks to come out, drag wire into your computer room, and sign on the line that commits you to paying about $45 per month. Assuming you can tolerate the other kind of "broad band" (the extrawide time slot needed to allocate to a visit from the cable guy), it's that simple.

But just because these two types of Internet access are the most common and the smoothest to install, don't assume they're your only choice. In a few regions, there are two other ways to get online. If they were available in my area, I'd be all over them.These two alternative broadband technologies are consumer-grade fiber-optic access (spearheaded by Verizon's FiOS) and municipal wireless, such as the newly available service in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania.
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Roads less traveled

So there are two other ways to zoom onto the Internet. For now, sadly, they're available only in a few communities. FiOS will most likely spread faster than municipal wireless, but who knows which service will land in your community first.

So here's a question for you: If you had the choice between FiOS, BreezeAccess, or the DSL/cable route, which would you take?
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Ahhhh ... choices, choices, choices!

Two Chickens, Hold The Arsenic!

Photo Credit: whyfiles.org

Yes, arsenic ... a poison to the human body. Added to chickens to help reduce parasitic disease and promote growth when raising large flocks for food production. This is not the only use of arsenic in our dietary environment. It is common practice that this poison is purposely added to our drinking water, farm raised fish and even rice production. And all we really thought we had to worry about was the flu!

OKAY? - Beef, it's what's for dinner!

Excerpts from the New York Times via FMI Daily Lead -

Eating Well
Chicken With Arsenic? Is That O.K.?
By MARIAN BURROS Published: April 5, 2006

ARSENIC may be called the king of poisons, but it is everywhere: in the environment, in the water we drink and sometimes in the food we eat.

The amount is not enough to kill anyone in one fell swoop, but arsenic is a recognized cancer-causing agent and many experts say that no level should be considered safe. Arsenic may also contribute to other life-threatening illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes, and to a decline in mental functioning.
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Human exposure to it has been compounded because the consumption of chicken has exploded. In 1960, each American ate 28 pounds of chicken a year. For 2005, the figure is estimated at about 87 pounds per person. In spite of this threefold rise, the F.D.A. tolerance level for arsenic in chicken of 500 parts per billion, set decades ago, has not been revised.
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"When this source of arsenic is added to others, the exposure is cumulative, and people could be in trouble," said Dr. Ted Schettler, a physician and the science director at the Science & Environmental Health Network, founded by a consortium of environmental groups.

Those at greatest risk from arsenic are small children and people who consume chicken at a higher rate than what is considered average: two ounces per day for a 154-pound person. The good news for consumers is that arsenic-free chicken is more readily available than it has been in the past, as more processors eliminate its use.
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McDonald's, the country's largest fast-food chain, said it does not use chicken with arsenic but the test revealed the presence of more than incidental amounts. Perhaps the chickens were purchased before the company started demanding arsenic-free chickens a couple of years ago.

Because there are still many more arsenic-fed than arsenic-free chickens for sale, consumers can reduce their exposure by buying from companies that have stopped using arsenic, or by choosing chickens labeled organic or antibiotic-free. They can also remove the skin from the chicken treated with arsenic, which reduces levels significantly.
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PETA should be a little more vocal about the human toll chickens bring to our lives instead of worrying about the condition of the lives of chickens themselves.