Issue #2475

• WEALTHY: What’s all the hubbub about? (Charles Delvalle)
• HEALTHY: The truth about folate (James B. LaValle)
• WISE: Cynthia Ozick on taking things for granted

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• Elizabeth Edwards’s tragedy (Robert Ringer)
• A credit card company that wants to help? (Jason Holland)
• It’s Fun to Know… about “yellow” journalism
• Add “raiment” to your vocabulary

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Financial Word of the Week: Bailout

By Charles Delvalle

With all of the turmoil in the financial industry, one word that keeps making the rounds is “bailout.” So here’s what you need to know.

A bailout is when the government extends a loan (or takes over) a private company because it is deemed “too large to fail.” Bailouts are nothing new, although they never happened in the U.S. to the extent that we’ve been seeing recently.

One of the most famous bailouts was that of Chrysler Corporation back in 1979. They were on the verge of bankruptcy. But instead of letting a huge job provider fail, the government extended a $1.5 billion loan. (They also bought a bunch of Chrysler’s Jeeps for military use.) This helped Chrysler get back on its feet.

AIG, the country’s largest insurer, recently received an estimated $85 billion bailout. And the bailout engineered for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost over $200 billion.

If you own stock in a company being bailed out by the government, your shares will be worth next to nothing. Selling is usually your best option. But hold your bonds. Bondholders make out like bandits, since the bailout usually ensures that their interest payments are made on time.

[Ed. Note: Breaking down incomprehensible financial lingo is only one way ETR's financial experts can help improve your investing IQ. With our INCOME financial advisory service, we can show you the best - and safest - stocks to invest in and profit from. Learn more here.
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Cynthia Ozick

Unspeakable Actions, Unspeakable Consequences

By Robert Ringer

The media had a field day stripping John Edwards of his “two-Americas” robe, but I’d rather focus on the Greek tragedy Edwards now finds himself starring in. There are a number of insights we can derive from it… especially when we examine the plight of Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth.

I can relate to Mrs. Edwards’s situation, because it reminds me of the last years of my sister’s life. After about 40 years of marriage, through most of which she endured subtle verbal abuse, my sister discovered that her husband had been cheating on her for quite some time. After considerable emotional turmoil and an attempt at reconciliation, she finally filed for, and obtained, a divorce.

A couple of years later, my sister’s oldest son died in a horrific automobile accident. It was a devastating blow, one from which she never fully recovered.

Then, about eight years after her son’s death, her doctor handed over her own death sentence in the form of a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. Sadly, she had been a three-to-four-pack-a-day smoker since she was a teenager. The news stunned our family… and, unfortunately, her end came slowly and painfully.

Because of the difference in our ages - and the fact that we lived 2,500 miles apart - my sister and I had never been particularly close. But when one of her children called to tell me the end was near, I dropped everything and flew to California to see her. If you’ve ever had a relative or good friend die of cancer, you know it’s a pretty grim experience.

I’m thankful I was able to see my sister before she died, because it gave me the opportunity to tell her, in person, that I loved her. Although she had been drifting in and out of consciousness, she opened her eyes, turned her head slowly toward me, and, as I held her hand in mine, said with a faint smile, “Really?” She seemed genuinely pleased by my words. I will always feel good about that.

I sat by her side for about two hours, though she no longer seemed to be aware that I was present. When the time came for me to leave for the airport, I kissed her on the forehead, said goodbye, and walked toward the bedroom door.

When I reached the door, I turned and looked back at her, realizing that I would never see her again. And I remember wondering to myself what the purpose of her life had been. She had barely made a ripple while she was here… then suffered triple painful blows during her remaining years. I could hear that old Peggy Lee song - “Is that all there is?” - in my head.

In her youth, my sister was very pretty, very bright (graduating second in her high school class), and extremely popular with both girls and guys. But before she could even make it to college, she married Prince Charming. She could never have imagined what was in store for her.

On the plane ride home, I thought about how sad the last years of my sister’s life had been: a bitter divorce… her brilliant, loving son dead in an instant in a cataclysmic clash of steel and glass… her own slow, painful death. The suffering she endured during those 10 years is still unfathomable to me.

Though I know very little about Elizabeth Edwards as a person, I thought about my sister when I first heard that her breast cancer had returned. She not only is the same age as my sister was when she passed away, she, too, lost a young son in an automobile accident.

Though I have always had a low regard for John Edwards (as I do for anyone who arrogantly anoints himself as the savior of “the poor”), I felt genuine empathy for both him and his wife as a result of the two terrible blows they had endured in such a short period of time. But who could have imagined that a third, and, in many ways, even worse, blow was yet to come?

When a husband tells his wife he’s been having an affair, it’s painful for both parties. But rational people recognize that, to one extent or another, we’re all “sinners”… we all make mistakes. Put another way, even good people sometimes do bad things.

But when you throw in the fact that a man’s wife has incurable cancer, it takes a person of incredible goodwill to be able to write off that man’s affair as just a “mistake.” Now, it appears that even after Edwards admitted his indiscretion, he was still carrying on the affair… while his wife was bearing the burden of coming to grips with her mortality.

I don’t even want to think about the possibility that the National Enquirer is right about Edwards’s plans to marry his mistress after his wife dies. That would be a dark side to this story that only a saint could forgive.

No human being should have to endure the succession of blows Elizabeth Edwards has taken… and, I fear, may have to suffer as additional facts are brought to light about her husband’s indiscretions (plural).

No matter what issues or sadness you are dealing with in your own life, unless you can match Elizabeth Edwards’s hand card for card, it would be a good idea to make an effort to be grateful for what you have - and what you don’t have.

With few exceptions, no matter how heavy our burdens may be, there are millions of people around the globe who are much worse off than we are. As Socrates put it: “If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own.”

One last thought: A good definition of a near-divine human being might be “someone who always takes into consideration how his words and actions might affect those he loves - then speaks and acts accordingly.” Something we mortals might do well to aspire to.

[Ed. Note: Improving your life starts from the inside out. Of course, thinking good thoughts about yourself and others isn't all you need to do. You need to take action in order to move yourself forward to success. But sometimes you need a little push to get yourself going... and some simple techniques to help you accomplish your dreams. Discover 189 ways to get everything you want out of life.

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A Message From Someone Who Cares 

By Jason Holland

“We care about you and are concerned that you may have been impacted by the recent weather. If we can be of any help, please call.”

A bit dry, but still a comforting message. Especially for a Floridian in the midst of an active hurricane season. 

Was it from Chuck and Stacey, my friends from college? My aunt and uncle up in Cincinnati? The local Red Cross? 

No. It was my credit card company rushing to my side in my supposed hour of need. The message popped up when I was paying my bill online. 

Curious, I called in. And found out that if I lived in a hurricane-affected area (not yet, knock on wood), I was eligible to pay my bill late this month. And, by the way, I could also defer it for several months. For a small fee, of course. 

That’s some stylish marketing. The way the message is written pre-qualifies anybody who calls in. It’s a great way to present a service the company’s customers might need.

You may think it’s a little too smooth. But nobody is naive enough to think their credit card company is going to be 100 percent charitable. They know what they’re getting into when they call.

Look at your business. How are you framing your marketing? Do you ever “help” your customers? Provide them with free valuable information or services in addition to selling them something?

The companies that strive to make their customers’ lives better will be the ones that prosper in the long run.

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Folate Making Headlines Again

By James B. LaValle

You can learn a lot about what’s good for your body - and what isn’t - by reading medical literature. But you have to be careful. Take, for instance, two recent studies that gave negative press to some very beneficial vitamins. The way these study results were reported can give the impression that we don’t need vitamins B12, B6, and folate. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Here’s the real story…

Both studies found that a cocktail of B12, B6, and folate lower homocysteine (a byproduct of an amino acid found in the blood). But, surprisingly, they didn’t find that this translated into less risk of mortality or cardiovascular events.

In fact, several previous studies have shown that homocysteine is a marker for increased risk of heart disease and stroke. And homocysteine levels go up when the body doesn’t have enough B vitamins. Also, low levels of folate have been associated with increased cardiovascular risk.

Folate affects a lot more than heart health. It regulates DNA in cells, which is important for healthy cell division. For mothers-to-be, adequate folate is needed to prevent neural tube defects in developing fetuses, miscarriages, and Down’s syndrome. It is particularly effective in preventing colon and breast cancer. And it has been found to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by more than 50 percent. It also reduces high blood pressure, as well as the risk of stroke.

What I find most disturbing about these two recent studies is that because both found a slight increased cancer risk in patients taking folate and B vitamin supplements, researchers are now questioning their safety. And because of the way this has been reported, people are now afraid of these essential nutrients. Meanwhile, the increase was so small it was not even considered statistically significant. Plus, the overwhelming majority of studies on folate have found it to be cancer protective.

What should you do? Let science continue to sort out the confusion. In the meantime, make sure you get adequate folate to protect your health - and not only in your daily multivitamin. Folate is found in leafy green vegetables, oranges, broccoli, asparagus, peas, and some beans.

There is one caveat, however. About 20 percent of the population has a gene mutation that prevents them from getting the benefit of the folate in their food or the usual form found in multivitamins. It is a good idea to get tested by your doctor for this mutation. If you have it, you need to take folate in its activated form: 5 methyl tetra hydro folate (5 MTHF).

[Ed. Note: Sometimes it can be overwhelming to try to sort through the massive amounts of information coming out about your health. Let ETR's health experts make it easy for you. You can get advice from fitness and nutrition experts - and their interpretations of the latest breakthroughs - in ETR's free natural health e-letter. Sign up today.

It truly is possible to improve your health just by making a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

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It’s Fun to Know: Why “Yellow” Journalism?

How did yellow become associated with trashy newspapers? Here’s the “colorful” history.

In the 1890s, the New York World and the New York Journal American were feuding. In a battle for readership, they kept trying to outdo each other with increasingly lurid headlines and sensational stories. The Journal American escalated the war by hiring away one of the World’s most popular cartoonists. He’d been drawing a strip called “Hogan’s Alley,” with a main character (known as “the yellow kid”) who dressed completely in yellow. To retaliate, the World hired another cartoonist to create yet another yellow character.

As the battle heated up, critics started referring to their tactics as “yellow kid journalism,” eventually shorted to “yellow journalism.” The term is still used to describe biased, irresponsible, unethical reporting in the media.

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Word to the Wise: Raiment

“Raiment” (RAY-ment) - from the Middle English for “to array” - means clothing in general.

Example (as used by H.G. Wells in The War of the Worlds): “A man in his Sunday raiment, lemon-yellow gloves even, was visible inside the window.”

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Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

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