private boolean _loadBooleanProperty(Properties properties, String key) throws Exception {
	String value = properties.getProperty(key);
	if(value == null)
	    throw new Exception("Could not find " + key + " in configration file " + CONFIG_FILE);

	if(value.equalsIgnoreCase("YES") || value.equalsIgnoreCase("TRUE")){
	    return true;
	}else if(value.equalsIgnoreCase("NO") || value.equalsIgnoreCase("FALSE")){
	    return false;
	}else{
	    throw new Exception("Key " + key + " has value = " + value + " which does not match yes/no/true/false");
	}
    }