The Kevin Trudeau Show: 3-14-11
Today, the all-seeing, Kevin Trudeau gives you his latest predictions about the economy. Find out how things are only getting worse and what you need to do to be prepared!
Self Help:
Protect Your Body
Emergency Preparedness
Nourishing Products
Keep Your Pet Healthy!
Health:
TSA To Retest Airport Body Scanners For Radiation
TSA Scanners Shred Human DNA
Creekstone Farms Recalls Ground Beef in 10 States Over E.Coli Fears
Coffee May Lower Stroke Risk in Women
Denture Adhesive Zinc Poisoning Problems Draw FDA Attention
Government:
U.S. Takes Over Three Tylenol Plants
Postal Service Set to Default on Its Federal Debts
California Taxpayers Pay Record Amount In Benefits to Children of Illegal Aliens
Guatemalans Sue Over 1940s US Syphilis Experiments
Inflation:
How to Cope With Rising Food Costs
Pepsi Faces Steep Input Price Inflation
Deception:
Foreclosure Activity Slows Sharply In February
Goodyear’s New CEO Sees Compensation Rise Even After Cuts
New Website Could Be a Nightmare for Consumer Products Companies
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California Taxpayers Pay Record Amount In Benefits to Children of Illegal Aliens
March 14, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
March 14th, 2011
Examiner.com
By: Dave Gibson
Los Angeles Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has just released data from the Department of Public Social Services which shows that in November 2010, $53 million in welfare benefits ($22 million CalWORKs and $31 million in Food Stamps) were given issued to illegal aliens for their U.S.-born children in Los Angeles County.
The record amount is an increase of almost $3 million from November 2009, and represents 22 percent of all CalWORKs and Food Stamp issuances in L.A. county.
In 2009, CalWORKs and Food Stamp benefits given to illegal aliens totaled almost $570 million. The total amount issued to illegal aliens cost in 2010, is estimated to be well over $600 million.
On Monday, Supervisor Antonovich told reporters: “When you add this to $550 million for public safety and nearly $500 million for healthcare, the total cost for illegal immigrants to county taxpayers exceeds $1.6 billion dollars a year — not including the hundreds of millions of dollars for education.”
In August 2009, Antonovich made public the-then staggering amount which the taxpayers spent on illegal aliens, living in L.A. County. In June 2009 alone, the county paid out $48 million to the children of illegal aliens, an increase of $10 million over June 2007.
$26 million of that total came in the form of Food Stamps, while another $22 million was given to the illegal alien families in welfare checks.That is in addition to the more than $1 billion that the county spends annually on the medical treatment, education, emergency services, and incarceration of illegal aliens.
These figures continuously rising amounts explain why not only L.A. County, but the entire state of California are now in financial ruin.
In 2003, the American Southwest saw 77 hospitals enter bankruptcy due to unpaid medical bills incurred by illegal aliens. A staggering 84 hospitals in California, have been forced to close their doors because of the growing crisis. Hospitals which manage to remain open, then pass the unpaid costs onto the rest of us, which translates into more out-of-pocket expenses and higher insurance premiums for all Americans.
With 20 percent actual unemployment, huge trade deficits due to the loss of our manufacturing base, and a soaring national debt, we simply cannot afford to pay the bills for this nation’s illegal alien population.
If we are to once again find ourselves on firm financial footing, we can no longer accept elected representatives who choose to better represent a foreign national population, rather than those of us who actually pay their salaries.
Illegal immigration is slowly but surely destroying this nation.
Click here for the full report from Examiner.com
Pepsi Faces Steep Input Price Inflation
March 14th, 2011
FinancialTimes.com
By: Jonathan Birchall
PepsiCo faces the highest levels of input price inflation in many years, underlining the broad pressures confronting global food companies amid steep rises in the price of oil and agricultural commodities.
The snacks and soft drinks company, whose food business includes Frito-Lay and Quaker, expected an additional $1.4bn to $1.6bn in extra input costs in its 2011 financial year, equivalent to cost inflation of 8 to 9.5 per cent.
“There aren’t many years in my 23 years at PepsiCo that I remember seeing that range,” said Hugh Johnson, chief financial officer, as the company issued its fourth-quarter results on Thursday. “That type of inflation has a pretty strong impact.”
Inflation concerns contributed to a lowered forecast for earnings growth in its 2011 financial year in the range of 7 to 8 per cent, down from a previous forecast in March last year of low double-digit percentage growth.
It also said it expected earnings growth in the lower range to continue after 2011, in spite of its $7.8bn investment acquiring its largest bottlers in 2010, and purchasing a controlling stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann, the Russian dairy company, for $3.8bn.
Indra Nooyi, chief executive, defended the company’s strategy, telling Wall Street analysts that “had we not had the macroeconomic sluggishness and this extraordinary commodity inflation, we’re a solid double-digit [earnings growth] player.”
She also emphasised the “considerable uncertainty” that had led to the decision to lower earnings guidance.
“We have no idea what the commodity markets are going to look like in 2012 and beyond,” she said.
“We have no idea what the developed market economic situation is going to be, whether it is going to improve robustly or whether the current sluggishness is going to continue.”
Coca-Cola, Pepsi’s main rival, earlier this week reported sales growth across leading markets during the fourth quarter for the first time since 2003, supported by strengthening consumer demand and gains in market share from investments in marketing and distribution.
Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola’s chief executive, said: “At best the recovery is still mixed around the world … But I think there’s more stability and less concern about a major upheaval.”
Mr Kent said he believed Coca-Cola’s strong results reflected its own efforts to improve its global business performance.
PepsiCo’s food brands account for over 50 per cent of its revenues. Several other leading global food companies have warned of the impact of commodity price inflation in the coming year. John Bryant, chief executive of Kellogg’s, the cereal company, said last week that he expected pressure on grain prices to continue “for several years to come”.
PepsiCo has said it expects to pass on some of the price increases to consumers, but would seek to minimise sudden price moves.
For the fourth quarter, PepsiCo reported core earnings per share – excluding the impact of its takeover of its two largest bottlers – of $1.05 per diluted share.
Sales volumes rose 9 per cent across its worldwide business, while net income, lifted by the bottling deals, rose 37 per cent to $18.1bn. Net earnings fell 5 per cent to $1.36bn, again reflecting the costs of the bottling acquisitions.
In North America, soft drinks sales volumes rose by 1 per cent against the same quarter last year, trailing the 3 per cent growth reported on Wednesday by Coca-Cola
Click here for the full report from Financial Times
Goodyear’s New CEO Sees Compensation Rise in 2010
March 14th, 2011
ABC News
By: Dee-Ann Durbin
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s chairman, president and chief executive saw his compensation jump 69 percent to $8.5 million in 2010 as he assumed new leadership roles, according to an Associated Press calculation from a regulatory filing.
Richard Kramer, who became CEO on April 13 and chairman on Oct. 1, received a base salary of $929,924, an increase of 37 percent, as the company reversed a 2009 decision to freeze executive officers’ salaries.
Still, the Akron, Ohio-based company reported a loss of $216 million, or 89 cents per share, for 2010 despite a 15 percent increase in revenues. The loss included a $160 million charge to close a 1,900-employee plant in Union City, Tenn.
Goodyear, the largest U.S. tire maker, noted that the company was operating in an uncertain environment in 2010 as the global economic recovery continued and prices for raw materials and energy rose. Goodyear said in compensating executives, it considered their actions to improve pricing and product mix and their plan to cut $1 billion in costs by 2012.
Kramer received stock and stock option awards worth $1.9 million, up from $1 million in 2009. He also received a performance-based cash bonus of $5.7 million, an amount based on the company’s pretax earnings but not including one-time charges like the plant closing. That compared with a cash payment of $3.3 million in 2009.
Goodyear also reported $52,161 in perks for Kramer, including a home security system and two sets of tires annually.
Kramer took over for former chairman, president and CEO Robert Keegan, who retired as CEO and president on April 13 and as chairman on Oct. 1. Keegan’s base salary consequently fell 25 percent to $922,500.
But Keegan still made $12.2 million in his final year at the company, primarily from a performance-based cash bonus of $8.5 million — which was down slightly from 2009 — and stock awards worth $2.5 million.
Keegan also received $254,125 in perks, including $118,269 in payment for accrued vacation time that wasn’t taken before his retirement.
Click here for the full report from ABC News
Denture Adhesive Zinc Poisoning Problems Draw FDA Attention
March 14th, 2011
AboutLawsuits.com
Federal regulators are calling on Proctor & Gamble, and other manufacturers of denture adhesive products, to remove zinc from their denture cream due to a risk of zinc poisoning, which could cause users to suffer severe neurological injury.
In an FDA letter to all denture adhesive manufacturers sent out last week, the agency indicates that it has seen a growing number of reports of zinc poisoning from denture cream products, such as Fixodent and Super Poligrip.
The agency is calling on manufacturers to take a number of steps to remedy the denture adhesive problems, including the removal of zinc from the products or significant label changes to warn consumers.
According to the FDA, research indicates that the side effects of denture cream with zinc can include zinc toxicity and neurological damage, including symptoms of myeloneuropathy of the extremities and blood dyscrasias.
Myeloneuropathy is neurological damage often caused by copper deficiency. It can manifest as tremors and weakness in the extremities and difficulty walking. Blood dyscrasia is a catch-all term for unspecified blood disorders, usually due to abnormal material in the blood.
The FDA letter says that those most at risk include people who use excessive amounts of denture cream to address ill-fitting dentures.
The two primary manufacturers of denture adhesive with zinc in the United States are Proctor & Gamble, which makes Fixodent, and GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Super Poligrip.
GlaxoSmithKline already agreed to reformulate Super Poligrip to remove zinc last year. However, Proctor & Gamble has denied that zinc in their denture cream products is causing any problems, and continues to sell Fixodent denture adhesive with zinc.
The FDA said that a number of factors may be contributing to the reports of denture adhesive zinc poisoning, including the excessive overuse of cream by some consumers and labels that do not clearly warn about the presence of zinc or the risk of problems.
The FDA made four recommendations to manufacturers to address the denture adhesive zinc poisoning problems, including:
- Performing a risk analysis of their labeling.
- Conducting a human factors study to assess consumer understanding of labeling and potential misuse of their products.
- Modifying the labeling to clearly indicate that the denture cream contains zinc and defining maximum safe usage in clear terms.
- Removing zinc from denture cream products and replacing it with something that has less health risks for consumers.
- The FDA is requiring all denture adhesive manufacturers to acknowledge that they have received the letter and also reminded the manufacturers that they are required to report adverse events to the agency.
A growing number of Fixodent lawsuits and Super Poligrip lawsuits have already been filed against Proctor & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline for allegedly failing to adequately warn that their denture cream contains zinc or that excessive use of the product may cause severe and debilitating neurological damage when too much zinc enters the body.
According to allegations raised in the lawsuits, increased levels of zinc in the body can deplete copper levels, causing a condition known as hypocupremia, which is known to increase the risk of significant neurological problems that can leave users with permanent and debilitating physical injuries, such as neuropathy, numbness, tingling, pain, weakness, loss of sensation, loss of balance, paralysis and difficulty breathing.
Super Poligrip settlements have reportedly been reached in most of the lawsuits filed against GlaxoSmithKline, and the first Fixodent trial in the federal denture adhesive litigation is expected to take place later this year.
Click here for the full report from AboutLawsuits.com
U.S. Postal Service Set to Default on Its Federal Debts
March 14, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
March 14th, 2011
DailyFinance.com
By: Danny King
The U.S. Postal Service has warned that it will fall $6.8 billion short on payments it owes the federal government this fiscal year. In a presentation to a House of Representatives subcommittee on Wednesday, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the postal service won’t be able to pay its retirement and workers’ compensation obligations unless the government steps in.
The Postal Service is set to miss its expected September payment of $5.5 billion to fund medical benefits for future retirees, as well as a $1.3 billion payment — due in November — for workers’ compensation costs, Donahue said.
The service will continue to deliver the mail, but won’t have the cash to fund these obligations, he added. The Postal Service last month said that it may close as many as 2,000 post offices this year after an oversight board in September unanimously rejected its request to raise the price of a first-class stamp to 46 cents from 44 cents.
The board said the Postal Service had failed to sufficiently quantify either the effect of the recent recession on operations or how much mail shipments would decline if rates were increased.
Denied the option of raising stamp prices, the Postal Service has requested other allowances, such as reducing the frequency of mail delivery, closing unprofitable post offices and restructuring its $5.5 billion retiree obligation.
In November, the Postal Service posted a fiscal 2010 loss that more than doubled from a year earlier on lower revenue and higher interest costs for debt related to workers’ compensation.
Click here for the full report from DailyFinance.com
Guatemalans Sue Over 1940s US Syphilis Experiments
March 14, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
March 14th, 2011
Washington Post
By: AP
Guatemalans subjected to U.S. syphilis experiments in the 1940s are suing federal health officials to compensate them for health problems they have suffered.
The lawsuit comes after revelations that U.S. scientists studying the effects of penicillin in the 1940s deliberately infected about 700 Guatemalan prisoners, mental patients, soldiers and orphans. None was informed or gave consent.
Attorneys representing the Guatemalans asked the Obama administration to set up an out-of-court claims process similar to those established in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the 9/11 terror attacks. But they say they got no response by a Friday deadline and so filed the suit Monday morning.
The Guatemalan experiments were hidden for decades, until a medical historian uncovered the records in 2009.
Click here for the full report from the Washington Post
New Website Could Be a Nightmare for Consumer Products Companies
March 14, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
March 14th, 2011
Daily Finance
By: Douglas MacIntyre
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a new website, Saferproducts.gov, the first consumer product database of its kind. The agency says that “Through SaferProducts.gov, consumers, child service providers, health care professionals, government officials, and public safety entities will be able to submit reports of harm (Reports) involving consumer products. Manufacturers (including importers) and private labelers identified in Reports will receive a copy of the Report, and will have the opportunity to comment on them.”
It’s likely that a number of companies will be upset about the new site and its feature that allows consumers to submit forms about unsafe products. Of course, what is “unsafe” will be largely subjective, although the agency will apparently review some comments.
The entire site will not be live until sometime in April. Manufacturers will be allowed to file their own comments about complaints for up to 10 days before the complaints go “live.” This could be a nightmare for large consumer products companies, which may need to wade through scores of complaints. Businesses will have to register with the site to be able to post responses.
The Achilles Heel of the site may be that it is subject to random comments from consumers that are inaccurate or possibly part of campaigns against companies that are unrelated to product flaws.
The site is a good idea, theoretically, but like most every other “open” comment website, abuse by both consumers and companies will be hard to regulate.
Click here for the full report from Daily Finance
Los Alamos Scientist: TSA Scanners Shred Human DNA
March 14th, 2011
VeteransToday.com
By: Bob Nichols
While the application of scientific knowledge creates technology, sometimes the technology is later redefined by science. Such is the case with terahertz (THz) radiation, the energy waves that drive the technology of the TSA: back scatter airport scanners.
Emerging THz technological applications
THz waves are found between microwaves and infrared on the electromagnetic spectrum. This type of radiation was chosen for security devices because it can penetrate matter such as clothing, wood, paper and other porous material that’s non-conducting.
This type of radiation seems less threatening because it doesn’t penetrate deeply into the body and is believed to be harmless to both people and animals.
THz waves may have applications beyond security devices. Research has been done to determine the feasibility of using the radiation to detect tumors underneath the skin and for analyzing the chemical properties of various materials and compounds. The potential marketplace for THz driven technological applications may generate many billions of dollars in revenue.
Because of the potential profits, intense research on THz waves and applications has mushroomed over the last decade.
The past several years the possible health risks from cumulative exposure to THz waves was mostly dismissed. Experts pointed to THz photons and explained that they are not strong enough to ionize atoms or molecules; nor are they able to break the chains of chemical bonds. They assert—and it is true—that while higher energy photons like ultraviolet rays and X-rays are harmful, the lower energy ones like terahertz waves are basically harmless. [Softpedia.com]
While that is true, there are other biophysics at work. Some studies have shown that THZ can cause great genetic harm, while other similar studies have shown no such evidence of deleterious affects.
Boian Alexandrov at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico recently published an abstract with colleagues, “DNA Breathing Dynamics in the Presence of a Terahertz Field ” that reveals very disturbing—even shocking—evidence that the THz waves generated by TSA scanners is significantly damaging the DNA of the people being directed through the machines, and the TSA workers that are in close proximity to the scanners throughout their workday.
From the abstracts own synopsis:
“We consider the influence of a terahertz field on the breathing dynamics of double-stranded DNA. We model the spontaneous formation of spatially localized openings of a damped and driven DNA chain, and find that linear instabilities lead to dynamic dimerization, while true local strand separations require a threshold amplitude mechanism. Based on our results we argue that a specific terahertz radiation exposure may significantly affect the natural dynamics of DNA, and thereby influence intricate molecular processes involved in gene expression and DNA replication.”
In layman’s terms what Alexandrov and his team discovered is that the resonant effects of the THz waves bombarding humans unzips the double-stranded DNA molecule. This ripping apart of the twisted chain of DNA creates bubbles between the genes that can interfere with the processes of life itself: normal DNA replication and critical gene expression.
Other studies have not discovered this deadly effect on the DNA because the research only investigated ordinary resonant effects.
Nonlinear resonance, however, is capable of such damage and this sheds light on the genotoxic effects inherent in the utilization of THz waves upon living tissue. The team emphasizes in their abstract that the effects are probabilistic rather than deterministic.
Unfortunately, DNA damage is not limited only to THz wave exposure. Other research has been done that reveals lower frequency microwaves used by cell phones and Wi-Fi cause some harm to DNA over time as well. ["Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation."] //Terrance Aym
Click here for the full report from Veterans Today
How to Cope With Rising Food Costs
March 14th, 2011
DailyFinance.com
By: Jean Chatzky
The U.S.Department of Agriculture has confirmed what you likely already know: Food prices are on the rise. In January, the department forecast a price increase of 2.5% for 2011; last week, they upped that to between 3% and 4%.
We’re expected to see the bulk of that increase toward the second half of the year, but you — the consumers — know it’s already pretty evident: Major food manufacturers like Sara Lee (SLE) and ConAgra (CAG) are starting to increase prices on items such as frozen meals and deli meats. And other companies, like Kraft (KFT), may reduce the size of packaging to cut costs.
All this translates to a higher grocery bill for you.
What is driving these price hikes? I’m not just talking about the soaring gas prices we’ve been shaking our heads over. Beginning in July of last year, we also started to see a pretty sharp increase in corn prices, according to Darrel Good, an agricultural economist and professor at the University of Illinois.
“The price of corn has basically doubled since the end of June last year,” Good says. “There are three or four factors that are fundamental to rising prices, but first and foremost, crop problems resulted in a smaller-than-expected output.” We also saw a rapid expansion in demand due primarily to corn’s use in ethanol.
But corn’s not the only problem. There’s been an increased demand for soybeans. Meat prices, too, are headed up, because of large price increases for livestock cattle and hogs. Producers of livestock have been slowly losing money, so they’ve reduced supply. And as basic college economics taught us, when the supply is down, prices go up.
So the question is, how do you cope? I have four suggestions:
Adjust Your Budget
Darrel Good says whether prices will continue to rise depends on what happens to crop production in 2011 — if we have a favorable growing season, we can replenish some of that lost inventory. If prices do stay up, the cost of living will take a hit. If your budget is already stretched by gas prices, these price increases are going to push it even further, which means you may be faced with hard choices when it comes to discretionary spending: eating out, entertainment, new high-tech toys.
It’s time to go over your budget and see where you can cut back (cable and cell phone are always good places to start — these companies are typically negotiable). Then put a hold on major purchases to give yourself a chance to adjust.
Shop Smarter
This means making a plan — and a list — before you leave for the grocery store, so you know exactly what you’re buying. Take some time to survey your stock: Know what you have and what you need. Limit impulse purchases. It helps to make one big shopping trip each week, rather than several. That way, you only have to walk past the magazines, candy bars and exotic fruit once.
Dedicate yourself to clipping coupons (worth a valuable $1.12 apiece on average) for things you regularly buy and need, and buy things when they’re on sale, particularly non-perishables. Give store brands another look. And compare prices between stores, because you might be surprised. Wegman’s, for instance, announced earlier this year that they wouldn’t be raising prices on 40 staple products in 2011, despite rising commodity prices. Bananas, orange juice, tuna, cereal and frozen vegetables are on their list.
Compare Unit Prices
This is particularly important now that package sizes are shrinking: You need to get into the habit of looking at not only the retail price, but also the unit price. This will show you how much you’re paying per ounce, pound, quart or other measurement, so you can compare products of different sizes and see where the best deal is. Often — but not always — you’ll save by buying larger sizes, so pay attention.
Avoid Processed Foods
The further your food is from the original source — and the more it’s processed and packaged — the more you’ll pay for it as a general rule. That’s why you’ll often see price hikes in the inner aisles of the grocery store, where all the cookies, crackers, TV dinners and boxed meals live. (Corn and soy are popular ingredients in these foods, whether in the form of soybean oil, soy protein, corn syrup or maltodextrin.)
If you stick to the outer aisles — or shop at a farmer’s market come spring, where prices don’t reflect gas costs to truck food across the country — you may not be hit quite as hard.
Click here for the full report from DailyFinance.com
