US Food Producers Getting Healthier

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Several days ago, Pepsico announced that it has agreed to cease sales of high-sugar beverages in soda machines inside schools across the US.  The soft drink giant could no longer turn a blind eye to the direct correlation between its super sugary drinks and the epidemic of childhood obesity.  While I am sure that they were not super enthusiastic about losing this significant (but not critical) piece of their market, I imagine they felt the negative publicity surrounding soda in schools and childhood obesity was more damaging to their bottom line than agreeing to stop promoting the fattening of our children.  Following the Pepsico announcement, Kraft Foods announced that they would be cutting back the levels of salt used in the manufacture of many of their food products for sale in the US.  A nod to the growing numbers of health conscious Americans, Kraft has agreed to be more responsible in the production of foods consumed by millions.   They plan to eliminate 10 million pounds of salt from 1000 products over the next two years.  That’s alot of salt!  I feel like I need a Pepsi to quench my thirst. LOL

In Case You Were Worried…

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Have you ever had to defend your choice of online education to less than supportive family or friends?  Clearly, the Internet has upended many existing paradigms such as how we shop, socialize and study.  And while no one is suggesting that online studies are out of the mainstream, there is a certain newness to the practice of learning via the “tubes” that can raise the eyebrows of those more enamored of the orthodoxy of brick and mortar institutions of higher learning.  If you find yourself having to defend what is clearly a very savvy choice on your part, the following photo slide show can provide you with some truly unorthodox educational choices you can offer to provide some perspective to your debate opponent.  Follow me over the jump to learn more about such schools as Hamburger University and Clown College. Continue reading…

Banksters Feeling Pain from “Move Your Money” Campaign

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Back in January, the Allen School Online Blog featured a post called, “Move Your Money – Beat the Greedy Banksters”.  In that post, I outlined options for people disgusted with their treatment by big Wall Street banks who survived the economic collapse thanks to taxpayer bailouts only to jack up credit card interest and withhold loans for school and small business.  In essence, I advocated for others to do as I and many others had; “voting with our feet” by closing accounts held with Citi, Chase, BofA and other biggies and reopening them with local community banks and credit unions.  At the time, many doubted this small action would have any significant impact on the “too big to fail” crew on Wall Street.  Follow me past the jump to see just how successful this idea has been. Continue reading…

Taxing Soda and Pizza to Combat Obesity?

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This courtesy of Reuters today:

“CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. researchers estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza and soda can push down U.S. adults’ calorie intake enough to lower their average weight by 5 pounds (2 kg) per year. The researchers, writing in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday, suggested taxing could be used as a weapon in the fight against obesity, which costs the United States an estimated $147 billion a year in health costs.”
We had written about this proposal once before here at the Allen School Online blog, when the proposed tax was put forth in New York State.  Now it seems the idea has taken hold nationwide.  I can sort of see the value in taxing sodas, which contain ungodly quantities of sugar in a single serving.  I might suggest taxing all items that contain high fructose corn syrup (but that will never fly because our government pays huge subsidies to corn farmers to produce this deadly sugar.)  Furthermore, soda is sold by all restaurants and groceries so a tax on soda would at least be equitably distributed across all foodservice and sales businesses.  However, I draw the line of fairness at singling out pizza for additional taxation.  What, do obese people not overeat fried chicken?  Chinese food buffet?  Ice cream sundaes? Why discriminate against pizzeria owners for this new tax?  Eating pizza specifically is not the only driver of obesity. I could live with a soda tax,but to start singling out individual foods for additional taxation is a very bad idea.  What do you think?

Springing Ahead – Winter Draws Near Close

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I know not all of our readers are located as I am in the Northeast.  However, if the news reports have been even partly accurate, this Winter season has been one of the more brutal ones in recent memory.  Snow totals in the Northeast have been on the high side of the spectrum and my relatives in Southern California have been getting more rain there than they see in five years combined.  So it is with great anticipation that I await the 14th of March.  This coming Sunday, March 14th, at midnight, we all set our clocks one hour ahead.  While we lose one hour of sleep in the transaction, we gain one more glorious hour of evening sunlight to use outside, after close of business hours.  That’s one more hour to spend walking, studying, reading or washing the car.  Of course, it is still probably too cold in many parts of the country to spend much of this extra daylight time out of doors.  But rejoice!  For the last day of Winter is not far behind this Sunday’s “Spring Ahead”.  The Vernal Equinox happens on March 21.  This marks the first day of Spring and not a moment too soon.  I dreamed last night that we were taking to cover off the swimming pool.  Can you tell I am ready for swimming and barbecues?  How about you?

Best Affordable Suburbs in the US

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Finishing studies and embarking on a new career is often accompanied by a move to a new city where one hopes to find good availability of jobs in the field they’ve chosen.  However, beyond the availability of work, there are many other considerations to be made about where to live.  In year’s past, many of the “Best Places to Live” lists published by numerous magazines were focused on such things as access to luxury amenities; golf courses, nice restaurants, etc.  Today, the calcuations are much more focused upon things like affordability and quality of life issues like schools and crime rates.  This is why the recent “Best Affordable Suburbs in America 2010” article published in Business Week caught my eye.  Follow past the jump to read the article. Continue reading…

Dems Prepare to Pass Healthcare Reform

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After the President’s televised, bi-partisan forum on healthcare reform, it still seems as if little has changed in terms of bipartisan support of reform efforts.  Republicans still hew to their position that Democrats in the majority ought to start  over from scratch after 60 years of debate and the last year of contentious debate on the Hill.  This is a ridiculous assertion given the decades of debate that have been dedicated to this single, very important issue.  It seems that the President held the forum specifically to give the minority Republicans the opportunity to take part in serious compromise discussions, offering to include tort reform – long a Republican issue – in the package.  What has become clear is that the Republican party (and to some degree democrats in the Senate as well) are under the thumbs of a powerful insurance lobby that doesn’t want anything to stand between them and the record profits they’ve been reaping by boosting premiums and cutting service.  So it looks like the Dems are finally preparing to go it alone.  Kudos to Obama for trying to seriously engage the minority in the planning.  To their credit, the Republicans have done an excellent job spreading disinformation about the bill.  However, when polled piece by piece, a plurality of Americans like and support the bill.  What are your views?  Do you think the President is doing the right thing?  Sound off in the comments. (Posted by remote from family vacation in Miami.  Limited internet access precludes images.)  Full scale blogging to resume Wednesday March 3rd.

10 Resume Red Flags

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Resume Tee & Red FlagsWith unemployment high and so many candidates competing for so few positions, the strength of your resume is even more important than ever.  I found this great breakdown of “don’ts” at Investopedia.com a great site for info on basic economic concepts and financial information.  While we have done resume posts in the past, this list really gets into some of the mistakes folks have been making lately in their attempts to make their resume stand out against the sea of resumes that recruiters are swimming in.

Know the New Credit Card Rules

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If you’re like me, you probably rely on credit cards to some degree to plug gaps in cash flow between paychecks.  Most Americans are in the same boat.  US banks have been taking advantage of Americans’ reliance on credit though downright usurious and predatory practices designed to juice as much money as they can from their customers through sneaky fees and unrealistic rules.  Finally, Congress took some legislative steps to rein in the worst of these abuses and passed the the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009.  It takes effect on February 22, 2010.  As you might expect, the credit card companies have been finding new and creative ways to sidestep these restrictions on their ability to rape their customers.  Read this article at DailyFinance.com to acquaint yourself with the new rules and to learn how to avoid the banksters’ new methods for fleecing you.  Also, as I wrote about in an earlier post, consider moving your credit accounts away from Wall Street companies and into local, community banks and credit unions.  Visit www.moveyourmoney.info for more info on how and why to do this.

Surge in New US Medical Schools is a Positive Indicator

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The New York Times reported over the weekend on an imminent surge in new medical schools to open in the US this year.  From that article:
“The proliferation of new schools is also a market response to a rare convergence of forces: a growing population; the aging of the health-conscious baby-boom generation; the impending retirement of, by some counts, as many as a third of current doctors; and the expectation that, the present political climate notwithstanding, changes in health care policy will eventually bring a tide of newly insured patients into the American health care system. If all the schools being proposed actually opened, they would amount to an 18 percent increase in the 131 medical schools across the country.”
For some perspective on the significance of this development, follow me past the jump. Continue reading…