News Around the World Today

More Than 70,000 Children A Year Hurt by Medical Devices

Bob Kingsley — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:16:21 +0000

More Than 70,000 Children a Year Hurt by Medical Devices

July 31, 2010 – A study conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that will be published online in Pediatrics on Monday evaluates device-related injuries to kids.

It shows that more than 70,000 teens and children go to emergency rooms every year for because of problems with medical devices.

Out of the roughly 145,000 medical device related complications studied almost 34,000 were related to problems with contact lenses. The complications or injuries include eye abrasions and infections.

Sometimes these problems could be prevented by not wearing the contact lenses for too long a period without cleansing them.

Additional common problem that were found were related to ear tube infections in young children, wounds from broken hypodermic needles that were used to inject legal or illegal drugs, and injuries that teenage girls suffered during gynecological exams.

The most pressing problems were related to devices that had been implanted. Overdoses and infections were the most common problems associated with devices such as insulin pumps, chest catheters, and brain shunts. Approximately 6% of kids with these problems had to be hospitalized.

The head of emergency medicine at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Dr. Steven Krug, said that, “Health care providers need to be aware of these kids and their devices and how to recognize or diagnose” related problems.”

Can a Salty Chicken be a Natural Chicken?

Bob Kingsley — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:07:52 +0000

Can a Salty Chicken be a Natural Chicken?

July 31, 2010 – Poultry producers are debating whether a chicken that’s injected with water, salt, and other ingredients can be labeled as being a “natural” chicken.

The USDA (US Department of Agriculture) maintains that if a chicken isn’t chemically preserved or artificially flavored that it could use the word “natural” on its packaging.

However, a number of health advocates, chicken producers, and politicians said that approximately 1/3 of the chickens that are sold within the United States are injected with additives. And they say that those injections could amount to up to 15% of the weight of the bird. This would double or triple its salt content and could both mislead and may harm consumers who have to limit the amount of sodium in their diets.

Purdue, which is the third largest poultry producer in the United States wants the rules to be changed. They say that they label their chickens “natural” or “all natural” only if they have not added anything.

Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride, the largest processors of chickens in the U.S. label chickens that they have injected with additional water and salt as “natural.”

The head of the California Poultry Federation, Bill Mattos, says that the way things are now labeled can confuse consumers and wants the industry to be much clearer when they label their products.

United States Casualties in Afghanistan Soaring

Rick Robinson — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:14:52 +0000

United States Casualties in Afghanistan Soaring

July 31, 2010 – U.S. military death tolls in Afghanistan are on the rise this summer. July has seen sixty-six American casualties. This has surpassed the previous record high set last month..

Right now there are approximately 95,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. By the end of the next month the total is anticipated to rise to 100,000. This is 3 times as many troops as there were in this war torn country in 2009.

Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, starts around August 11. Consequently here may be some relief in the bloodshed for awhile during this war that has been raging on for close to nine years. That’s because both Afghan government forces as well as Taliban fighters will be fasting.

Although Obama said the U.S. will begin withdrawing troops next July Afghan patience seems to be wearing thin. Police fired shots into the air in Kabul, the country’s capital, to break up an angry crowd who were shouting “Death to America,”, setting fire to vehicles, and throwing rocks after a U.S. contract employee was part of a traffic accident that killed 4 Afghans.

FedEx Raises Earnings Outlook

Dan Havens — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:48:37 +0000

FedEx Raises Earnings Outlook

July 26, 2010 – On Monday FedEx, the second largest package delivery company in the world, raised its earnings forecast for the full year as well as the current quarter.

The company said its air and truck shipments for high value goods such as cell phones, computers, drugs, electrical components and medical supplies are exceptionally strong in Asia and FedEx anticipates that priority shipments will increase by 20% this quarter.

Shares in the Memphis, Tennessee based company appreciated by 5.6% on Monday to close at $83.39.

FedEx now intends to fully reinstate the 401(k) match company wide on January 1. They included the cost as part of their current earnings forecast.

This would usually be especially encouraging as far as the US economy is concerned because FedEx is often looked at as a bellwether stock that anticipates US economic growth. However, the majority of the company’s volume growth is based on international shipments.

While the U.S. average daily volume grew by 1% international priority average daily shipments increased by 23% in their fiscal fourth quarter that ended in May.

UN Initiates Arms Trade Treaty

Sandy Landers — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:54:29 +0000

UN Initiates Arms Trade Treaty

July 23, 2010 – On Friday a conference at the United Nations General Assembly ended on a very positive note. Its aim was to formulate a legally binding treaty amongst nations that will prevent human rights violators, terrorists, and other armed groups that fuel conflicts from receiving weapons and it seemed to be met with wide spread agreement.

In October the Obama administration reversed the Bush administration’s December 2006 “no” vote on a treaty that would regulate the growing arms trade. French Ambassador Eric Danon called that reversal “very important” in that it not only initiated the current negotiations, its very concept will support future disarmament and arms control efforts.

Don Mahley, U.S. Ambassador, said, “The U.S. made clear last October our desire to see a negotiation that would produce an effective Arms Trade Treaty as a means of addressing many of the enduring global challenges caused by unregulated arms,” and that he is “pleased” with the discussions so far.

Initially many of the UN delegates were rather uncertain about the possibility of wide support for the current treaty negotiations. However, Danon said “the principle of an Arms Trade Treaty is now agreed by all the countries, even if some countries make reservations on some aspects.”

What is especially encouraging is that even Pakistan seems to support the concept. A Pakistani diplomat, Reza Bashir Tarar,, referring to consensus on the treaty being achieved, said, “When we do, documents that emerge will have lasting value.”

Tropical Storm Bonnie Shuts Down BP Oil Spill Operation

Bob Kingsley — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:10:49 +0000

Tropical Storm Bonnie Shuts Down BP Oil Spill Operation

July 23, 2010 – As tropical storm Bonnie, the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, accelerates towards the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, BP has decided to delay its attempt to permanently plug up its wrecked Marcondo well that has been spewing oil into the Gulf since April 20.

The company said that high seas necessitated that they move their ships out of the area. The storm will set back the completion of their attempts to pump the well full of cement and mud, which they believe will kill Macondo, until the end of August. When BPs rig, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded in April it initiated what was to become the worst oil spill in United States history.

The weather pattern that is causing the delay roughly 80 south-southeast of Miami. It has sustained winds of 40 mp..

The U.S. National Hurricane Center noted that, “Bonnie is expected to move over the southern Florida peninsula later today and move over the eastern Gulf of Mexico tonight and Saturday,” and that Bonnie will “approach the northern Gulf coast late Saturday or early Sunday.”

Euro Down In Early Trading

Dan Havens — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:35:34 +0000

Euro Down In Early Trading

July 23, 2010 - Early today a report in the Spanish newspaper El Pais raised concern that a number of savings banks in Spain had failed banking tests. Consequently the euro was down against the yen and the dollar in global forex trading.

This report led to more concern about upcoming reports about European bank stress tests. The report, which is expected to be published at 16:00 GMT is anticipated to reveal various weak areas in the eurozone economy.

However, the senior manager in Shinkin Asset Management’s investment department, Jun Kato, told Reuters that the Forex market reacted relatively calmly to the report. He added that it is expected that the overall results will show that the eurozone banking system is strong.

Kato said, “Unless test results show a surprisingly big number of banks needing surprisingly large amounts of money to mend their health, the results are expected to be euro supportive.”

Just before the story was released in El Pais the euro was showing resiliency and was holding onto the gains it made on Thursday versus the dollar.

Pelosi and Conservative Democrats Clash Over Tax Cuts for Wealthy

Steve Shulman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:29:55 +0000

July 22, 2010 –

Pelosi and Conservative Democrats Clash Over Tax Cuts for Wealthy

On Thursday U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi confirmed her support for eliminating lower tax rates for wealthy Americans.

She said, “Our position has been that we support middle-income tax cuts. The tax cuts at the high end have increased the deficit enormously.”

Senate Democrats Kent Conrad, Evan Bayh, and Ben Nelson disagreed, believing that they should not let the lower tax rates that wealthy Americans now enjoy expire at the end of the year.

The aforementioned Senate Democrats contend that the economy is still too fragile for higher taxes to be imposed. They believe that when the across the board lower tax rates are scheduled to expire at year’s end that they should all be reviewed.

Both many congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama want to extend lower rates for couples who earn less that $250,000 per year and for individuals who earn less than $200,000. They feel that anyone who earns above these amounts should not be eligible for tax cuts.

Although Senator Conrad agrees that the middle-class should benefit from extended tax cuts he feels that “The weight of economic advice that’s been given to me says .. now is not the time to pivot in terms of raising taxes or cutting spending.”

Republicans are in favor of tax cuts for all income groups.

Roughly 2% to 3% of Americans fall into the upper income bracket.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/ / CC BY 2.0

Food Felons Forget Purses

Rick Robinson — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:54:17 +0000

waffles

July 22, 2010 – According to the Springfield News-Leader, three women enjoyed their breakfast and then fled from a local diner on Sunday without paying for their meal. However, they left in their wake two purses that contained their identification.

The general manager said that he thought that the women who skipped without paying their $39 bill were either under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Shortly thereafter one of the women returned to the Waffle House and demanded that he give her back their bags.

He told her that she would have to wait until the police came. Thinking that this was not such a good idea, the women fled again.

The police report indicated that in addition to their identification the women had another stub from a Waffle House in Arkansas in their bags.

As of the middle of the week no charges have been filed against the food felons.

American Airlines Sued for $5 Million Over Lost Luggage

Steve Shulman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:08:31 +0000

American Airlines Sued for $5 Million Over Lost Luggage

July 22, 2010 – According to ABC News, Danielle Covarrubias filed a class action lawsuit against American Airlines for $5 million because the company refused to refund their $25 baggage checking charge after they lost her bag.

In 2008 American Airlines became the first major airline to start charging for bags and to impose checked baggage fees. After charging Covarrubias $25 to check her bags on her flight from Seattle to Grand Rapids, Michigan, it was not there when she arrived. She waited for the next flight to bring her bag with more than $800 worth of her things on it but it still didn’t come.

After twenty-four hours without her new wardrobe or toiletries the airline told her that nothing could be done and refused to refund her the baggage fee. American Airlines loses or damages in excess of 2,400 of its passenger’s bags every day.

The creator of airfarewatchdog.com, aviation expert George Hobica said, “It doesn’t make any sense at all that somebody should charge for a service and then screw up and not give you your money back.”

He commented that, “It just goes to show you how enraged people are by the lack of common-sense regulation in the airline industry.”