Current Events in October 2007

Q. Does coffee kill the benefits of vitamins?

A. Any beverage or food containing caffeine such as coffee, tea, chocolate and some sodas can inhibit the absorption of vitamins and minerals and increase their excretion from the body.

This raises a more important question: What are the benefits of vitamins?

Its very important to talk with your doctor before you take any vitamin and mineral pills, especially if you take prfescription medicines, have any health problems or are elderly.

Taking too much of a vitamin or mineral can cause problems with some medical tests or interfere with drugs youre taking.

Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients your body needs in small but steady amounts. Your body can't make most micronutrients, so you must get them elsewhere.

Vitamins are natural substances found in plants and animals. There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble.

Water-soluble vitamins are easily absorbed by your body. Unlike fat-soluble vitamins, they dont have to be absorbed using bile acids (fluids used to digest fats). Your body doesnt store large amounts of water-soluble vitamins. The water-soluble vitamins you dont need are removed by your kidneys and come out in your urine

Your body has to use bile acids to absorb fat-soluble vitamins. Once these vitamins are absorbed, your body stores them in body fat. When you need them, your body takes them out of storage to be used.

Here are some water-soluble vitamins: Vitamin C, biotin and the seven B vitamins thiamin (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), pantothenic acid (B-5), pyridoxine (B-6), folic acid (B-9) and cobalamin (B-12). Here are some fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E or K.

Minerals

Minerals come from the earth or from water. Plants and animals absorb them to get nutrients.

The major minerals are calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfur and chloride. They are considered major minerals because adults need them in large amounts.

The trace minerals are chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc. Your body needs them in smaller amounts.

It would be hard to overdose on vitamins or minerals that you get from the foods you eat. But if you take supplements, you can easily take too much. This is even more of a risk if you take fat-soluble vitamins.

Whole foods are your best sources of vitamins and minerals. They offer three main benefits over supplements;

1. They contain a variety of the micronutrients your body needs. An orange, for example, provides vitamin C but also beta carotene, calcium and other nutrients. A vitamin C supplement lacks these other micronutrients.

2. They provide dietary fiber, which is important for digestion and can help prevent certain diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Adequate fiber intake can also help prevent constipation.

3. They contain other substances such as antioxidants which slow down the natural process that leads to cell and tissue damage.

If you depend on supplements rather than eating a variety of whole foods, you miss the potential benefits of these substances.

For some people, including those on restrictive diets, multivitamin-mineral supplements can provide vitamins and minerals that their diets often don't. Older people and pregnant women have altered nutrient needs and may also benefit from a supplement.

All Rights Reserved © 2007 by Fred Cicetti

Verizon Wireless has become the latest telecom company to sell data on its customers' calling habits to partners and affiliates, informing customers that unless they call a 1-800 number within thirty days of being notified of the change to "opt out," they'll have granted their implicit permission to share the data.

Verizon Wireless' policy change was noted by Jason Devitt, co-founder of mobile marketing company Skydeck.

Devitt posted a copy of the Verizon policy change notice on the company blog, noting that the list of permitted agents Verizon would share the data with was "pretty broad."

The Verizon agreement allows the data to be shared with [o]ur affiliates, agents and parent companies (including Vodafone) and their subsidiaries," apparently to be used to deliver targeted advertising of other Verizon services by third-party marketers.

Verizon spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson, responding to Devitt's comments, said that "Verizon Wireless isnt - and wont be selling - customer information to advertisers or marketers. This is to share info among Verizon companies only, as per FCC rules."

Sprint Nextel made a similar change to its policies in January 2007, informing customers by mail that if they did not call the provided 1-800 "opt out" number or mail in a form clarifying their desire to opt out, they would be enrolled in the data sharing program.

Nothing personal

Customer calling data, or "customer proprietary network information" (CPNI), doesn't contain personally identifying information such as your name or address.

But CPNI data can be used to track your calling habits, such as whom you call and for how long you speak to them, products you buy from that particular carrier, and options you may request or refuse when making purchases.

Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has restrictions against the sale or sharing of CPNI data, a 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that telecoms and wireless companies did not do enough to oversee the sharing of CPNI data with third-party companies or contractors they hired.

CPNI data was at the core of the many scandals involving the sale of personal cell phone records to third parties, or "pretexting." Companies such as Locatecell.com and Celltolls.com would buy CPNI data from insiders at phone companies and resell it to third parties, ranging from disgruntled spouses to private investigators and law enforcement.

The outcry against pretexting led to Congress passing a law to criminalize the practice, and the FCC to pass new rules strengthening the restrictions against illegally selling or sharing the information.

CPNI data also rests at the heart of the investigation into the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless surveillance on American citizens.

In addition to the actual wiretapping of domestic calls, major telecoms such as AT&T and Verizon are alleged to have provided calling data from millions of telecom customers to the NSA, in order to investigate the call records for signs of terrorist activity.

A little-noted California court ruling might make a big impact on mobile telephone providers and their customers who want to get out of their contracts.

T-Mobile had appealed to the California Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit that challenged the companys early termination fees. The lawsuit also seeks to block T-Mobiles practice of locking its phones, so that they only work on its network.

Two lower courts had dismissed T-Mobiles arguments, saying the lawsuit should be allowed to proceed. Without comment this week, the California high court agreed that the case should be heard.

Last year, Verizon Wireless agreed to pro rate its early termination fees and last week it agreed to allow customers to make changes in their service plan without extending the contract.

But other companies haven't followed Verizon's lead and, under pressure from consumers, both the Federal Communications Commission and Congress have raised the issue this year, warning that new rules and legislation may follow.

A 2005 study found that nearly half of U.S. cell phone customers would switch or consider switching cell phone service carriers to get a lower rate and better service if they didn't have to pay an early termination fee to dump their current provider.

In the T-Mobile case, the plaintiffs have asked the court to prevent T-Mobile from imposing the hefty early termination fee, saying it is levied against consumers who are seeking to end the contract just a few weeks early.

The same suit would also force T-Mobile to make transparent its software locks that prevent consumers from using the same phone if they switch to a new carrier.

Both consumers and industry groups will be watching closely as the case proceeds, since most major carriers have similar policies. At stake for the industry are lucrative licensing agreements between handset manufacturers and cell phone carriers.

A court ruling striking down, or at least modifying early termination agreements, could lead to consumers switching providers on a more active basis. It could continue a trend of a balance of power shift to consumers, which started with court-mandated rules that allow consumers to keep their same telephone number when they switch cell phone providers.

Same argument, different outcome

Perhaps most significant, T-Mobile found a formerly reliable argument this time fell on deaf ears.

In attacking the lawsuit, T-Mobile relied on the binding arbitration clause in its terms of service agreement, arguing its customers waived their right to sue when they signed the contract. A rejection or weakening of the use of binding arbitration clause could strengthen consumer clout in transactions ranging from cell phone contracts to automobile purchases.

As much as being on the NutriSystem diet has been a sacrifice, I am beginning to appreciate some aspects of it.

I visited with ConsumerAffairs.com's medical reporter, Dr. Henry Fishman, this afternoon and weighed in. I've dropped eight pounds to 180 four pounds less than I was when I weighed myself on Monday.

While I've not only lost a significant amount of weight in two weeks, I also feel as good if not better than I did before the diet.

Earlier this week, on day 11, I bickered about having so many tiny portions of so many types of food throughout the day. I still think it's a huge hassle, but I believe all the extra fruits, vegetables, healthy fats and protein content in my daily diet has given me a boost of energy. I have never had as balanced of diet in my life.

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Not only have I maintained a regular running regime of two or three times a week, I have been running more. Two days ago I ran almost three and a half miles without stopping. I was pretty ragged by the end of it, but that's about a mile longer than my typical run on 2500 calories or more per day. I've also been sleeping well and on a couple of occasions even woke up before my alarm.

I'm probably sounding like a bit of a salesman right now, but it does feel good having people comment that I look thinner. Some of my pants are beginning to loosen up as well.

My appetite has gradually become accustomed to the diet. While I'm still relishing the opportunity to gnaw at a juicy and tender center cut, I rarely have the dire hunger that nearly crippled me at the outset.

That's not to say my taste buds have grown accustomed. While most of the food is fair, there are still a few dishes that I would rather never even have to smell again.

Most notably was the Thai noodles with peanut sauce and tofu. When I pulled it out of microwave, it looked OK to eat. But when I poked the goopy peanut sauce, I wasn't sure I could place it in my mouth. When I finally took a bite, it felt like I had melted plastic in my mouth.

If there was some sort of correlating taste on Earth, I would share it, but I've never tasted anything like it and I hope I never do again. I love peanut sauce over Thai noodles at just about any Thai joint in town, but NutriSystem's attempt at it was horrendous. I took three bites before I decided to totally skip a dinner entree that night.

Goopy Thai noodles aside (or maybe as a result), I've lost so much weight I've nearly toppled my initial goal.

When I started the diet, I hoped to drop below 180 pounds. Seeing as how I'm only a pound away from that with two weeks left to go, I've decided to set a new goal. I now hope to lose another eight pounds and drop to 172 my weight when I was in college.

Only time will tell if I can reach it, but one thing's for sure, if I run into many more meals like the Thai noodles, I stand a better chance.

The announcement was made by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the trade group representing the companies.

Though the industry insists the recalled medicines are safe in recommended doses, over-the-counter cough medicines in general have come under closer scrutiny in recent months.

On October 1, the FDA said it will take enforcement action against companies marketing cough and pain medications for children that contain hydrocodone. The agency says the narcotic has not been approved for treatment of coughs and colds in children, though it has been cleared for other, limited uses.

Its important to point out that these medicines are safe and effective when used as directed, and most parents are using them appropriately, said Linda A. Suydam, D.P.A, president of CHPA.

The reason the makers of over-the-counter, oral cough and cold medicines for infants are voluntarily withdrawing these medicines is that there have been rare patterns of misuse leading to overdose recently identified, particularly in infants, and safety is our top priority.

The voluntary withdrawal affects only these "infant" oral medicines, not those intended and labeled for use in children age two and older.

The branded cough and cold medicines that are being voluntarily withdrawn are:

• Dimetapp Decongestant Plus Cough Infant Drops
• Dimetapp Decongestant Infant Drops
• Little Colds Decongestant Plus Cough
• Little Colds Multi-Symptom Cold Formula
• PEDIACARE Infant Drops Decongestant (containing pseudoephedrine)
• PEDIACARE Infant Drops Decongestant & Cough (containing pseudoephedrine)
• PEDIACARE Infant Dropper Decongestant (containing phenylephrine)
• PEDIACARE Infant Dropper Long-Acting Cough
• PEDIACARE Infant Dropper Decongestant & Cough (containing phenylephrine)
• Robitussin Infant Cough DM Drops
• Triaminic Infant & Toddler Thin Strips Decongestant
• Triaminic Infant & Toddler Thin Strips Decongestant Plus Cough
• TYLENOL Concentrated Infants' Drops Plus Cold
• TYLENOL Concentrated Infants' Drops Plus Cold & Cough

CHPA said it and its member companies have made recommendations to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to strengthen the labels on all oral over the counter childrens cough and cold medicines from "ask a doctor" before using to "do not use" in children under two years.

CHPA said it made these recommendations to the FDA in preparation for a joint FDA advisory committee meeting on October 18 and 19.

"Cocktails"

Dr. Henry Fishman, ConsumerAffairs.coms medical correspondent, says parents should be leery of multi-symptom five-in-one cocktails that can be purchased over the counter.

They can have five or six drugs at a time, when your child just needs one or two, he said. Not a single over-the-counter multi-symptom cough or cold medicine has been adequately tested in kids under six and frankly, a lot of the stuff does not work.

Even adults should think twice for spending money on over the counter cough remedies, according to experts.

Guidelines released by the American College of Chest Physicians earlier this year indicate that many of the active ingredients in cough remedies may be ineffective, reports the May issue of the Harvard Health Letter.

Americans spend an estimated $3.5 billion annually on over-the-counter cough remedies.

With winter on the way and the U.S. Department of Energy predicting a sharp increase in heating bills, consumers are likely looking for any feasible way to cut expenses.

Scammers are apparently playing on those concerns in hopes of snagging the unwary in a new phishing scheme.

DOE says scammers are sending out spam email, pretending to be from the federal agency. DOE says it believes the purpose of the scheme is to infect victims computers with malware that will allow hackers to steal sensitive information, such as user names and passwords.

The subject line in the email says Urgent Notification and informs the recipient that an analysis of their bills shows they are due a refund from DOE for $480.58. To receive the refund, they must click on a link in the message. Doing so, says DOE, infects the computer.

DOE says the email appears to come from refund@energy.gov. The agency says that address does not exist. DOE also said it does not collect revenue from, or issue refunds to, the general public via email.

More Scam Alerts ...

In an agreement with California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., AT&T Mobility has agreed not to charge customers for calls made after their cell phones are lost or stolen.

"This groundbreaking settlement makes AT&T the first cell phone company that has agreed to protect its customers from cell phone rip-offs and other unauthorized uses," Brown said. "It is now time for the rest of the cell phone industry to step forward and follow AT&T's example."

Brown had alleged that the company violated California law, including Public Utilities Code section 2890, which bars phone companies from charging customers for unauthorized services.

"No cell phone company should profit from calls made by thieves or unauthorized users," Brown said.

The Attorney General's Office began the investigation in 2006 after several consumers complained they were being charged thousands of dollars for calls made on cell phones that were stolen. In one case, calls originated from Mexico, a country the customer had never visited.

Although customers could fully document that the calls were unauthorized, AT&T refused to credit the accounts.

The agreement requires the company to credit a customer's bill or immediately investigate customer reports that the calls were made after the phone was lost or stolen. The company may only charge a customer if an investigation determines that the customer actually authorized the charges.

The judgment requires AT&T Mobility to inform each of their customers of their legal rights regarding lost or stolen phones. Under the agreement, AT&T must either credit the disputed charges or inform customers of their legal rights which include:

• The right to have the case investigated within 30 days

• The right to provide information showing a customer did not authorize= the calls

• The right not to pay disputed charges during the investigation=20

• The right to appeal the outcome of an investigation to the California= Public Utilities Commission.

AT&T must notify customers--in writing--of these new requirements and assist customers to obtain credit for amounts already paid on lost or stolen phones, back to year 2003.

AT&T will also pay the Attorney General's Office $500,000 for costs of the investigation and for the Unfair Competition Law Fund, administered by the California District Attorneys Association.

The California law for cell phones is similar to that for credit cards: customers have a right to dispute unauthorized charges and request an investigation. Customers should not be held responsible for charges until the investigation concludes, Brown said.

October 10, 2007
Authorities in Pineville, Missouri, say a 4-month-old girl has died in a Simplicity Inc. 4-in-1 bassinet that was not part of last month's recall of 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs.

B.J. Goodwin, McDonald County coroner, said Katelynn Marie Simon died Sept. 29 of accidental positional asphyxiation after she was caught between the rail of the bassinet and the mattress, The Joplin Globe reported.

Local officials said they contacted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) immediately.

We filed a report with them the first day, deputy sheriff Jeff Sutherland said, the Globe reported. We wanted to get them involved as quickly as possible to get this thing (bassinet) off the market.

Sutherland said a CPSC investigator brought a doll similar in size and weight to Katelynn, and that the death was re-enacted at the sheriffs office. He said the childs torso became caught in a gap between the rail of the bassinet and the mattress.

She was feet down and in a position that every time she exhaled, she slipped down a little further, he said, according to the Globe's report. She got down far enough that her chest couldnt expand to breathe.

Sutherland said the product is available at Wal-Mart and Target stores, and online.

Made in China

The bassinet -- model No. 3112DOH6 -- has Winnie the Pooh decorations. Its label says it was made in China for Simplicity. The model does not appear in the product section of Simplicity's Web site.

Last month's recall came after reports of three infant deaths.

The drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants.

The CPSC said it was aware of two deaths in Simplicity manufactured cribs with older style hardware, including a 9-month-old child and a 6-month-old child, where the drop-side was installed upside down.

CPSC is also investigating the death of a 1-year-old child in a Simplicity crib with newer style hardware, in which the drop-side was installed upside down. CPSC is also aware of seven infant entrapments and 55 incidents in these cribs, it said.

Last June, Simplicity recalled about 40,000 of its Nursery-in-a-Box Cribs because of a choking and fall hazard.

Fix it yourself

In the recall of 1 million cribs last month, Simplicity officials said they would send parents repair kits with new hardware that would correct the problem, but an investigation by the Illinois Attorney General uncovered flaws in the program..

An investigator in Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office called Simplicity posing as a consumer and asked for one of the repair kits. It was sent overnight to her.

When she opened it, pieces of plastic hardware fell out, but there were no instructions on what to do with them, Madigan's office said.

Cara Smith, the Madigan aide who received the repair kit without any instructions, said it illustrated how Simplicity and the CPSC "appear to be no closer to making consumers safe" than they were before the recall, the largest of full-size cribs in U.S. history.

Who knew what when?

An investigation by The Chicago Tribune found that Simplicity and the CPSC knew for more than two years that the faulty hardware and improper installation could leave babies vulnerable to suffocating in the cribs.

The Tribune said it found numerous complaints about the design of a popular Simplicity crib, the Aspen 3 in 1. It said the complaints documented the failure of the federal watchdog agency to fully investigate the death of 9-month-old Liam Johns in 2005.

The drop rail on Liam's crib separated from its frame, and the infant asphyxiated when he slipped feet-first though the gap, in an accident similar to that which befell the Missouri child.

Wrong parts

In Kokomo, Indiana, a ConsumerAffairs.com reader complained that she had reported damaged items and missing hardware in Simplicity's Crib'n Changer Combo. Lee Ann said she was afraid to put her daughter in its crib because of its instability.

"The changer seperates from the crib far enough where I have been concered for my daughters safety, not to mention the hardware replacements I continue to this day to still ask for," she said.

Lee Ann said she called the 800 number supplied with the crib and Simplicity agreed to send replacement parts, but then sent the wrong parts. "It is exhausting to go through this over and over, and then when a box finally arrives, it's the wrong thing," she said.

Investigators with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbotts Cyber Crimes and Fugitive Units have arrested 14 previously convicted sex offenders who illegally created profiles on MySpace.com.

After receiving a subpoena from Attorney General Abbott earlier this year, MySpace.com provided investigators with a list of registered sex offenders who use the popular social networking site.

These arrests are a stark reminder for parents whose children use social networking sites, Attorney General Abbott said. Each of the 14 convicted sex offenders was arrested for illegally using MySpace.com to establish an online presence.

By sharing a user profile database with law enforcement, MySpace.com is providing critical information to law enforcement," Abbott said. "Other social networking sites should follow MySpace.coms lead, partner with law enforcement, and help protect their online users from criminals who use the Internet to prey on children.

Last month, a College Station, Texas, man who used MySpace.com to sexually solicit someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Abbott's office prosecuted Guadalupe "Wally" DeLaGarza, 27, for using the Internet to prey on children.

DeLaGarza was arrested in July 2006 when he arrived in Shenandoah with a handgun, rope restraints, condoms, and a digital camera to meet and sexually assault the young teen he targeted on the popular social networking Web site. The online profile actually belonged to an undercover Cyber Crimes Unit investigator.

DeLaGarza pleaded guilty to attempted sexual performance by a child, a third-degree felony. Upon release, he will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. At the time of his arrest, DeLaGarza indicated he was a graduate student at Texas A&M University.

MySpace and a similar site, Facebook, are currently the darlings of the Internet publishing world. Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for $580 million two years ago and both Microsoft and Google are said to be angling for at least a minority share in Facebook.

Facebook

Two state attorneys general say the popular networking site Facebook has "a long way to go" before they're satisfied it is adequately protecting children and young adults from sexual predators.

Earlier this week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed Facebook documents and revealed that his office has been conducting an undercover investigation of Facebook's security procedures.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper have been conducting a 50-state investigation into Facebook, which may become the target of a bidding war between Microsoft and Google. Facebook has stolen much of the limelight from Rupert Murdoch's MySpace, which has instituted a new database method of tracking sexual predators and blocking them from the site.

The New York probe has involved the use of undercover investigators posing as underage girls. Cuomo said the agents were repeatedly solicited by adult sexual predators on Facebook and could easily access a wide range of pornographic images and videos

Cuomo also alleges that there are significant defects in the sites safety controls and the companys response to complaints - deficiencies that stand in contrast to the reassuring statements made on the website and by company officials.

My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe website is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints, Cuomo said. Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a website that is aggressively marketed as safe.

Online publishers like social networking sites because users esssentially provide free content. Also, users tend to stay on the sites for longer periods of time than other types of sites, enabling publishers to display more ads per visit.

General Motors OnStar is now marketing technology that can aid in the recovery of a stolen vehicles equipped with the telecommunications system.

The technology will allow OnStar employees to send a signal to a subscribers stolen vehicle to reduce engine power and gradually slow the vehicle.

GM will make the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown available on nearly 1.7 million 2009 model year vehicles. OnStar already finds 700 to 800 missing cars per month using the global positioning system.

OnStar employees can use GPS technology to try to find the vehicle and provide its location to law enforcement. Police officers will then ask OnStar to slow the vehicles remotely. OnStar promises safeguards will be in place to ensure that the correct vehicle is slowed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) praised the new technology and suggested it may help reduce the number of high speed police chases.

About 30,000 police chases occur yearly and there are about 300 deaths as a result of those chases, according to NHTSA.

Technology should not just entertain us or make us more comfortable; it should make us safer, Nicole Nason, administrator of NHTSA, said in a statement. We applaud innovations such as the kind GM is embracing that will make our roads better, our passengers more protected and our drivers safer.

The OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is a GM feature in the United States and Canada and will be included in the one-year OnStar subscription that customers receive when buying an eligible 2009-model OnStar-equipped vehicle.

"From its inception, the motivation behind OnStar has been the safety and security of our subscribers and others on the road," said Chet Huber, OnStar president. "Every service we add builds on this original promise. The Stolen Vehicle Slowdown service will allow our subscribers added peace of mind by possibly preventing their vehicle from being used as an instrument of harm if it happens to be stolen."

"This technology will basically remove the control of the horsepower from the thief," Huber said. "Everything else in the vehicle works. The steering works. The brakes work."

GM is still exploring the possibility of having the car give a recorded verbal warning before it stops moving. A voice would tell the driver through the radio speakers that police will stop the car and the car's emergency flashers would go on.

GM abandoned almost 500,000 of its 4 million OnStar subscribers when the nation's cell phone systems stopped offering analog service.

The owners of GM products that carry analog technology to power their OnStar systems were "outdated," GM said, and the world's largest automaker dropped them from its safety and communications system.

In 2008 newer digital systems will be the only way OnStar can communicate since the country's cell phone carriers, which carry OnStar's signals on their towers, will complete the changeover to digital service.

With the current version of OnStar, drivers can call operators for emergency help, and OnStar operators will contact a car if its sensors detect a crash. The service has about 5 million subscribers.

Those who want OnStar but don't like police having the ability to slow down their car can opt out of the service.

OnStar, including the first year's subscription fee, is standard on most of GM's 2008 vehicles. After the first year, the subscription price is $16.95 a month.

Macy's shoppers who had store credit card accounts are reporting an unwelcome surprise in their mailboxes--their cards have been converted into Citibank Mastercards, with different credit limits and interest rates, all without the consent of the cardholders.

ConsumerAffairs.com reader Robert H. from New Hampshire wrote in to report that he "[r]eceived a legitimate Mastercard in the mail ... with just an activation phone call. This card was not ordered by me ... I never heard of a bank mailing credit cards in the mail for immediate use without ordering or comfirming with the bank or credit company."

Citigroup recently acquired the credit services division of the Macy's department store chain, and proceeded to "flip" the inactive store credit accounts of 3.5 million customers into true credit cards.

According to Citigroup and Macy's officials, a notice was sent to the accountholders in August informing them of the change and giving them until August 10 to call a toll-free number or write in to "opt out" and cancel the card. If the customer did not opt out, their Macy's store card account was canceled and replaced with the new card.

The new accounts have to be canceled through Citibank, not Macy's, irking cardholders who never wanted to receive the cards in the first place.

"At first I worried that someone had used my personal info to request the card, but then I noticed the message that reads 'If you do not want the CitMasterCard, call 800-432-0282 and we will close your account,' " wrote Margaret from Watertown, Massachusetts.

"How dare they send me an unrequested credit card in the mail, and then tell me I have to call if I want to cancel! With all the identity and credit card theft today, how can a bank do this? This is wrong and dangerous!"

Banks and other lenders typically perform "soft" inquiries into a person's credit in order to "prescreen" them for a potential credit offer, which is where the bulk of credit card solicitations in your mailbox come from.

According to Emily Davidson of Credit.com, in order to issue these cards, Citibank may have made a "hard" inquiry into accountholders' reports, which could lower their overall credit score.

"This case is unique in that the credit card issuer ran a hard inquiry and issued a real card without the consumer's direct approval," Davidson said. "I haven't seen physical evidence of the hard inquiry yet, but the reports coming in have mentioned this as part of the process. Any hard inquiry can cause some drop in credit scores."

Credit scores are measured in part by a borrower's overall credit history. The more credit a borrower has for a longer period of time, the higher their score is.

Canceling an old account and replacing it with a new one can also lower their credit score by reducing their length of credit history. This is a further turn of the screw for the unsuspecting new cardholders, as they will have to call in to cancel new accounts opened in their name, which may lower their credit score even further.

In addition, although the new cards require calling in to Citibank and answering a security question to activate, even inactive credit cards represent a vulnerability to identity theft and fraud, particularly if an unsuspecting recipient throws the card away. Unsolicited new cards arriving in the mail are themselves a sign of identity theft, as they may indicate a thief has stolen a cardholder's personal information and is using it to open new accounts.

What You Can Do

• Let the companies know you're mad. Citibank's toll-free customer service line is 1-866-510-2761. Call the bank and let them know you're angry that your information was used to make a new credit inquiry without your consent. Although Macy's is no longer responsible for the accounts, if you want to call them and offer a piece of your mind, the company's customer service number is 1-800-BUY-MACY (1-800-289-6229).

• Set up a credit freeze. The best way to block new accounts being opened in your name and without your consent is to freeze your credit. The three major credit bureaus are now offering credit freezes in all 50 states. 39 states and the District of Columbia already have laws enabling consumers to freeze their credit and unlock it, sometimes for as little as $5.

• Opt out. Put yourself on the Opt-Out list to reduce the frequency of your information being shared between companies and affiliates. Whenever you open an account, be sure to read the store agreement for language permitting your information to be shared between the company and its partners. To opt out of receiving unsolicited credit card offers, visit the official Opt-Out Web site or call 1-888-567-8688.

The "health halos" of healthy restaurants often prompt consumers to treat themselves to higher-calorie side dishes, drinks or desserts than when they eat at fast-food restaurants that make no health claims, according to a series of new Cornell studies.

The research, published in the October online version of the Journal of Consumer Research, found that many people also tend to underestimate by 35 percent just how many calories those so-called healthy restaurant foods contain.

"We found that when people go to restaurants claiming to be healthy, such as Subway, they choose additional side items containing up to 131 percent more calories than when they go to restaurants like McDonald's, that don't make this claim," said Brian Wansink, author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," and the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and of Applied Economics and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

Wansink and co-author Pierre Chandon, a marketing professor at INSEAD, an international business school in France, also report that by simply asking people to reconsider restaurants' health claims prompts them to better estimate calories and not to order as many side dishes.

They recommend that public policy efforts help people to better estimate the number of calories in foods.

"In estimating a 1,000-calorie meal, I've found that people on average underestimate by 159 calories if the meal was bought at Subway than at McDonald's," said Wansink. Since it takes an energy imbalance of 3,500 calories to put on one pound, that extra 159 calories could lead to almost a 5-pound weight gain over a year for people eating at Subway twice a week compared with choosing a comparable meal at McDonald's with the same frequency, he said.

These studies, he says, help explain why lower-calorie menus at fast-food restaurants have not led to the expected reduction in total calorie intake and in obesity rates.

On day 11 of the NutriSystem diet, my body has grown accustomed to the lower calorie intake. But the actual logistics of the diet are becoming an increasing nuisance.

That's because the diet is much more than pre-packaged meals. In fact, a person must provide 11 helpings from various food groups every day.

To illustrate what I mean, here's the daily food diary that a dieter must follow:

Breakfast:

NutriSystem breakfast entree
Dairy or protein serving: one ounce of low fat cheese, eight ounces of skim milk or light yogurt, one egg, one ounce of sandwich meat, etc.
Fruit serving: one small apple, one medium orange, half a banana, of a cup of pineapple, 1/3 of a cantaloupe, 15 grapes, cup of orange juice, etc.)
Low glycemic carbohydrate serving: 1/3 cup of barley, 1 slice of whole-wheat bread, cup of corn, cup of pasta, 1/3 cup of couscous, 1/3 cup of brown rice, etc.

Morning snack:
Dairy or protein serving
Fruit serving

Lunch:

NutriSystem lunch entree
Salad (with two tablespoons of fat-free dressing): Unlimited amounts of alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, spinach, celery, parsley, etc.
Fat serving: 1/8 of an avocado, six almonds, one teaspoon of peanut butter, five olives, one teaspoon of mayonnaise, etc.

Afternoon snack:

One NutriSystems dessert

Dinner:

NutriSystem dinner entree
Vegetable serving: of an artichoke, one cup of raw asparagus, one cup of raw broccoli, one cup of tomato juice, one cup of raw carrots, one medium tomato, etc.
Salad
Low glycemic carbohydrate serving
Fat serving

Dessert:

NutriSystem dessert

It is truly a test of one's planning capabilities to get in every one of these minuscule servings of all these various items throughout the day. Since I live on my own, this diet often leaves me with half a piece of fruit or vegetable. If I'm eating somewhere other than my apartment, such as at the office, it is particularly hard trying to keep my meals balanced.

I keep a few of the necessary foods I need at the office, but for most of the perishable items, such as fruit and vegetables, I'm often forced to skip that and eat it later in the evening.

While I'm pleased it's forcing me to eat healthier than I probably ever have in my life, it's a drain on my schedule fitting in all these helpings. It's also a drain on my wallet as all of these lowfat and all-natural foods are pricey.

In fact, the food I purchased for hopefully the duration of the diet cost me $80. It's not completely accurate for NutriSystem to advertise their plan as a money-saver because they "provide the food."

Nowhere is this scheme of constant nibbling more annoying than when traveling. On Thursday I drove to southern Virginia to cover a hearing.

At first I thought, "This will be easy. I can just throw some of these pre-packaged meals in my suitcase." But then the reality of hauling all these extra helpings, most of which are perishable, set in.

All I could bring was the prepared meals and snacks, and a bag of unsalted peanuts. I had my lunch right before I left for what was supposed to be a three-hour drive. But traffic turned it into a six-and-a-half-hour drive and I was starving.

With no place to pull over and prepare one of their meals, and hundreds of fast-food stops tempting me, I held myself over by eating my two allowed desserts and then finally, my breakfast for the next morning (a granola bar).

The story I was covering kept me in Virginia so late, I had to stay an extra day. I planned accordingly, but with one breakfast already down the hatch and no extra helpings, the food was running low. I spread it out as much as possible and, starving again, made the long trek back, fighting the nagging hunger with one last NutriSystem dessert as I drove through fast-food nation.

I can only imagine how this diet would work for an extended trip.

The food diary includes a guide on eating out, but after looking at calorie contents for any burger joint, versus one NutriSystem entree, I'm not sure how one could legitimately stop and eat anywhere even to have a salad.

On the bright side, I have lost four pounds. I hoped to lose more than that by now, but realistically speaking, that's not bad.

Thank you to those who have written in with words of encouragement and personal weight loss stories.

I check in with Dr. Henry Fishman on Thursday for a mid-diet meeting. I plan to have a new post and video blog up that evening.

When international postal inspectors arrested 77 people in a crackdown on counterfeit checks, they exposed once again the tip of an iceberg that is one of the biggest scams facing consumers today: the phony sweepstakes.

The eight-month probe involved schemes in Nigeria, the Netherlands, England and Canada, and has stopped more than half a million fake checks from being mailed to American victims.

International scammers have found U.S. consumers easy prey and are increasingly targeting them.

"All fake check scams have the same common pattern: Scammers contact victims online or through the mail and send them checks or money orders. They then ask that some portion of the money be wired back to them," said Postmaster General John Potter.

In its most common form, victims of the phony sweepstakes scam get a letter notifying them that they are a big winner in a lottery. They may even get the prize check in the mail with the congratulatory notice.

All you have to do to become a big winner is deposit the check and wire money to the sender to cover some taxes and fees. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Most consumers realize that it is indeed too easy, and recognize this as a fraudulent fake check scheme.

However, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says some consumers continue to fall for it, because they want to believe that its for real. The check sent to the victim is the bait that tempts them to fall for the scam.

But no matter how authentic the check looks, it's not. Consumers who deposit the checks into their accounts and authorize the wire transfer soon learn that the check didn't go through and that they cannot get the wired money back.

Banks are not responsible for covering phony deposits and will not excuse depositors from making good on the bad check.

"Scammers now have high-tech printers and scanners that allow them to make checks that look real. When you combine this technological sophistication along with a false promise of a financial windfall, consumers can easily fall victim, said McDaniel. The simple thing consumers should remember is that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is, and they should do their homework and ask questions prior to taking any action.

To avoid falling victim to a counterfeit check scheme, here are some tips to remember:

• Don't try to collect lotto or sweepstakes winnings if you don't remember entering the contest;

• Never give out your personal bank account information to anyone you don't know and don't trust;

• Never accept money without knowing its source;

• Never send money to an unknown source; and

• If you take the check to the bank, ask that it be verified and do not withdraw your own funds until the check has cleared, a process that can take days or even weeks.

More Scam Alerts ...

The Experian credit bureau says it will begin offering credit freezes to consumers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia beginning Nov. 1.

The freeze will be free to victims of identity theft. For other customers, it will cost $10 to implement and $10 to temporarily or permanently remove, unless state law mandates otherwise, according to Experian vice-president Kerry Williams.

Experian trails Trans Union, which announced similar plans last month. Equifax claims to be working on its plan.

All three credit bureaus had staunchly opposed credit freezes in the past, claiming the practice would harm consumers seeking credit and slow down industries that depend on instant access to credit.

Consumer advocates and security experts supported credit freezes as the best tool to prevent identity thieves from accessing customer accounts.

Trans Union was the first to break ranks with the bureaus, announcing its plans to offer freezes nationwide on Sept. 18. Although initial reports claimed Equifax would also offer credit freezes, the company has said it is still finalizing details of its own plan and will roll it out by the end of October.

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia already have laws on the books enabling consumers to freeze their credit, in many cases for less than the $10 fee offered by the credit bureaus. But consumers have been slow to adopt credit freezes on a wide scale, claiming the process is time-consuming and difficult.

For their part, the three big credit bureaus are aggressively promoting more expensive credit monitoring services, which include instant lifts on credit freezes.

Consumers Union's Jeannine Kenney said that the bureaus should adopt less expensive and more user-friendly practices for locking and unlocking credit freezes.

The credit bureaus obviously have the technical ability to place and lift a security freeze instantly, Kenney said. There is no reason for them to wait until the law requires them to do so. All three credit bureaus should make it fast, affordable, and easy for consumers nationwide to take advantage of this important identity theft safeguard.

Although easier and quicker adoption of credit freezes would benefit consumers, the credit bureaus continue to push their fraud-monitoring services rather than block access to credit altogether.

A fraud security alert is a better option for many consumers who are concerned about financial fraud," Experian's Williams said. "A security alert informs credit grantors that a consumer may have been the victim of identity theft, effectively protecting consumers from credit fraud without taking the drastic step of removing them from the credit marketplace entirely."

Credit monitoring services are often criticized for not detecting more complex types of identity theft and fraud, such as "synthetic" identity theft, where the thief pieces together a new identity from component parts of other identities.

Also, credit monitoring does not detect or prevent debit or checking account fraud, which is fast overtaking credit card fraud as the most common form of identity theft.

It looked like he had it all.

Thats what a neighbor said about George Christian, the founder of Financing Alternatives, Inc., a company that targeted low-income Americans for overpriced, cheap computers sold on layaway.

But Friday morning in Chesapeake, Va., where the company is based and where Christian lives, Circuit Court judge Randall Smith ordered that the companys assets be frozen and that all of Christians authority as owner be handed to a lawyer who will ensure the company obeys the courts orders.

This was the first step for Virginias attorney general, who hopes to return money to thousands of consumers who have each paid thousands of dollars and never received anything.

Virginia is not generally considered a leader in consumer protection but it is known as a state with an extremely strict criminal justice system. It trails only Texas in executions and routinely hands out lifetime sentences for offenses that would get little attention elsewhere.

Perhaps as a result, the state has an unusually low crime rate. It also brooks little nonsense in civil affairs, as George Christian is now learning.

Like BlueHippo, Financing Alternatives (FAI), operates by advertising to low-income individuals, including the tens of thousands of armed services members stationed in Virginia.

Bad credit? No credit? No problem! company ads on TV and radio boasted since 1998.

However, poor consumers lured by the prospect of owning a computer often paid thousands of dollars and never received a single piece of hardware, said the attorney generals representative on this case, Richard Schweiker.

One of those consumers was LaCara Hunt of Norfolk, Va. who has two children and is enrolled in online criminal law classes. She said she needed the computer both for her children and her classes.

She paid close to $2,000, completing her payments to FAI, in March 2007, Hunt said. She still has not received anything and said she doesnt expect to.

She and her 7-year-old and 3-year-old children have been very patient, but have been forced to use her sisters computer until they get some sort of restitution.

Unfilled promises

Her story is similar to 52 other people who have complained to ConsumerAffairs.com and close to 600 people who have complained to the state of Virginia.

The company promised to ship the computers after three months of payments, but most say they didnt receive a computer at all, even after paying in full.

Arthur Ruffin, who worked in FAIs customer service department from January 2007 to August, said he had to tell so many people why they werent receiving a computer, he remembers his scripted response to their questions:

Due to internal upgrades in our shipping and processing department, we are experiencing a delay, he had to tell customers.

He said there were no upgrades and that of the thousands of customers who paid in full, 25 percent at the most ever received anything.

In total, the company has received $3.3 million from 1,700 customers who paid in full, but received nothing, said Mike Coston, an investigator in Virginias Office of Consumer Affairs. He said there are many more people who have partially paid as well and have received nothing.

Big bucks

While the company was struggling to provide its overpriced merchandise to customers across the nation, its founder was receiving about $1.5 million per year and $7.8 million total, Schweiker said.

One week after the attorney general filed his suit, Christians wife, Michele, began attempting to seize many of the companys assets. She wrote a letter asking the company to pay $300,000 of a $500,000 alleged debt, Schweiker said.

On Oct. 3, local media photographed U-Haul trucks and storage pods outside FAIs headquarters. The movers were packing computers and office supplies but wouldnt tell reporters the destination of the company assets.

When ConsumerAffairs.com visited with Christians neighbors after the court hearing Friday morning, one said she saw a U-Haul truck, driven by Christians son, backing into the garage. She didnt see whether items were being packed or unpacked.

The garage door was closed when ConsumerAffairs.com arrived and no one would answer the door other than three yelping Yorkshire puppies.

No one came to the door when a member of the Sheriffs department arrived, presumably to serve a subpoena. The officer wouldnt say exactly what she was doing.

Before the attorney general filed the lawsuit, FAI transferred about $500,000 directly to Michele Christian and another $500,000 to a company in which she was the sole owner and employee, Schweiker said.

George Christian also funneled $43,000 of FAIs assets into Christians other company, First Consumer Finance, which eventually took over FAIs operations before the company ceased operations a month ago.

Other assets

Christian also opened Liberty Financial, LLC at FAIs current address earlier this summer. Liberty Finance worked with ACE Cash Express to sell computers to low-income consumers. Coston said he believes Liberty Finance also failed because Christian could only sell the computers at ACE storefronts in Los Angeles and Atlanta.

FAI owes state taxes of $42,000 and more than $1.3 million for advertising, according to papers filed by the attorney generals office.

FAIs headquarters, located in a strip mall, is now abandoned and empty.

Despite being fully decked in cheesy Halloween flair, Christians 6,000 square foot brick house, which is assessed at $864,900 and has an in-ground pool with small waterfalls, is lavishly wrapped in ornate landscaping.

Although he no longer controls his company, the Ford Expedition in his driveway has a vanity plate that reads: FAI CEO.

His neighbor said he has a Porsche in the garage and is always playing with toys referring to expensive machinery.

He said on Labor Day weekend, Christian pulled up in an enormous Travel America RV. The ones you only see country music stars riding around in.

I was thinking, someday down the road Ive got to get me one of those things, the neighbor continued. But Im not going to do it by bilking thousands of people out of their money.

It looked like he had it all, the neighbor said. Apparently he doesnt.

Many nannies

Another neighbor said the Christians, who have six children, had up to three full-time nannies at one time. They only have one nanny now, she said. She also said they have a regular cleaning woman.

Both neighbors ConsumerAffairs.com interviewed individually said they wanted to remain anonymous because, I dont want to get caught up in all this stuff.

Hippo cousins

FAI and BlueHippo, based in Baltimore, Md. appear to be identical computer layaway schemes.

Coston, from Virginias office of Consumer Affairs, said Christian and BlurHippos founder, Joseph Rensin, used to be business partners. Christian complained to Coston that Rensin stole his business plan, Coston said.

FAI was founded in 1998 and BlueHippo, 2003. Their contracts are identical, Coston said, even in physical appearance.

Coston said he thinks the two had some sort of non-compete relationship because he hardly gets any complaints about BlueHippo.

Of the 315 BlueHippo complaints ConsumerAffairs.com has received, nine are from Virginia and eight of those were less than one year old.

Although most of FAIs operations have been, at the minimum, temporarily put on hold, BlueHippos fate rests in a California class action lawsuit.

Coston said the next step for this case is for the receiver who took over FAI to determine the companys assets. Once that is finished, assuming the company does not have enough money to pay back the more than $3.3 million it owes customers, the attorney general will attempt to recover assets which were recently funneled into other businesses and Michele Christians bank account, and George Christians personal stash.

The attorney generals office hopes to conclude this case by December, but Coston said that may be wishful thinking.

What to do

Consumers from anywhere in the United States who have lost money to Financing Alternatives should file a complaint with the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs. Complaint forms can be obtained online or by calling the Office of Consumer Affairs at 804-786-2042. Completed complaint forms may be sent to: Office of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218.

Every so often I pass through my hometown and abuse the hospitality of old friends, sleeping on their sofas and telling tales of whichever exotic corner of the world Ive been living in lately.

As I describe a house on the tropical beach I rented in India or the atmosphere of a mountain town in Mexico, the response is almost always the same:

Nice life if you can get it.

All right for some.

How on earth do you afford it?

Ill be the first to admit that living abroad isnt for everyone. Some people cant handle the change of food, language or climate and others are necessarily tied to one place by their family or job.

But just about anyone else could be living on that beach or mountain town for at least half the year, if not forever. You dont need to be rich, multilingual or even especially talented you just need the creativity to imagine a new life for yourself and then the courage to follow through with your plan.

Plan? What plan?

There are those who say that moving abroad takes a good deal of planning. You need to investigate the visa conditions, get all your immunization jabs, buy adequate travel insurance and possibly learn the national anthem of the country youre heading to.

The truth is, you just have to jump on a plane and see what happens. Living in a new country begins the moment you actually arrive there, not before.

But if you are a planning kind of person then you could do well to check out www.travellerspoint.com -- a site where you can ask people around the world practical and cultural questions about where they live. www.expatriates.com is also a good place to find jobs and apartments although youll probably do better by picking up a copy of the local newspaper and checking the classifieds section.

Yes, I hear you asking "But can I afford to live abroad?"

If theres one fear thats common to us all, its of ending up broke. Our finances are a precarious set of scales that promise material happiness on one hand and begging for spare change on the other.

Were encouraged to invest in health care plans, pension funds, invest in markets or property and yet few find the time to really enjoy their lives while they can. Moving abroad would seem to be the riskiest move on the table, abandoning security to chase an exotic dream.

But somethings wrong when I hear 19-year-olds in America saying theyre too scared to travel as that blank space in their resume might damage their career prospects

No better time

The truth is, theres never been a better time to relocate to another, cheaper country. The advent of the Internet means that writers, designers, coders, artists, video producers, translators, journalists or webmasters can work from anywhere they choose.

When you earn First World wages but you only pay $100 a month for your hut on the beach, you can actually end up saving money. A freelancers dream.

An American passport is welcome in almost every corner of the planet youd ever want to visit and your dollars go a long way in most of the warmest countries in the world. A GSM phone means you can always be reached and the cost of a call home has been reduced to a few cents via Skype. Pack your laptop and a toothbrush and youre ready to go.

Even before the Internet came along I managed to spend most of my time in beautiful places.

I soon realized that if I worked somewhere like Japan for a few months and lived as frugally as a monk, I could save enough to relocate somewhere exotic like Thailand or Guatemala for half a year. Even there I lived modestly, for sure, but it made me laugh when an advertising executive from New York with a 6-figure salary asked me how I managed to get so much vacation time.

So, remember, the next time you spend $100 on a piece of clothing or a night out on the town, the same amount could pay your rent for a month somewhere south of the border.

But where?

So where to go?

At first sight, the world seems like a huge place. But once you rule out the godforsaken places, the conflict zones (check to see where Bush plans to invade next) and the countries that are just as expensive as America (forget about Norway and Switzerland), the options narrow down a bit.

In addition, you might want to think about the language if youre linguistically challenged then you might not want to move to the outer reaches of Mongolia but try somewhere like Belize or India where people speak English.

An effort to pick up the local lingo will be the best move you ever make though as you get to make new friends, connect with the culture and haggle like a demon for that pineapple in the market.

For most people the main consideration will be the cost of living abroad and work opportunities.

Although the travel industry has convinced people that leaving the US involves selling a kidney to pay for everything, the reality need not be that costly. Cheap flight tickets can be found on the internet and you can live comfortably on $500-$1,000 a month in most of Latin America and a good chunk of Asia, too. Sure, you wont be staying in a villa with room service but then how many people live like that at home?

And while pay in poor countries tends to be unimpressive, you could move somewhere like South Korea where English teachers are paid a fortune. Or if you do choose to make the beaches of Nicaragua your new home, youll be able to employ skilled Nicaraguans to help you with your project or business for a fraction of what it would cost back in the US.

The last consideration is cultural and theres no real way to work that one out before you get there. In 2003, I spent a year in Brazil, attracted by the beaches, the samba dancers, the cheap cost of living and the happy-go-lucky people.

It was one of the most miserable years of my life.

While it all looked good on paper, the fact was that I just didnt groove with Brazilian culture. Although I spoke Portuguese, I was more in the mood to philosophize in the small hours of the night than dance to the dawn. The Brazilians couldnt understand how I was such a boring old fart at the age of 26.

Even if youre in love with the culture of your new home, the small differences can drive you around the bend. A power cut just as youre about to send an email. Tiny stones in the rice that break a filling. The plumber who deliberately fixes the pipes so that theyll break again a fortnight later.

Its at these times that the honeymoon period ends and you have to ask yourself if youre cut out for living abroad. Just as you have to decide if a loved ones habit of gargling toothpaste is cute or annoying, so, too, youll need to make your peace with the culture and quirks of your host country.

To this end, many people who retire to warmer climes tend to choose spots where other expatriates gather it makes it so much easier to get over the frog in your bathroom when you can bitch about it with another expat in the evening.

Places like the Yucatan in Mexico, Bangkok in Thailand and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil are classic examples of thriving expatriate scenes.

Hanging out with expats is a two-edged sword, however. While theres definitely strength in numbers youll get tips on places to live, jobs and invites to dinners and parties you can end up spending more time with foreigners than with the locals. As you avoid contact with the local language and customs you might ask yourself, why did I leave home in the first place?

Becoming a local

So how do you integrate into another culture?

The first thing to accept is that youll always be something of an outsider. However much you speak and dress like the locals, youll never become one. But theres no need to. Moving abroad doesnt mean you need to abandon your roots. In fact, in many places youll be considered exotic yourself and find that the locals are just as curious about you as you are about them.

For some people (i.e. good-looking women), meeting people and making friends is a piece of cake. They walk down to the beach in the morning and have half their address book full by lunchtime. For the shyer types it will help to go to yoga classes, take coffee in the same cafes until you get to know the clientele, volunteer time in charitable efforts and to always but always carry your cell phone in case a new acquaintance rings.

When I lived in Israel my favourite trick was to leave my possessions with the hottest girl on the beach each time I went swimming. When I returned it was the perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation.

Another quick fix is to get in touch with members of the Hospitality Club (www.hospitalityclub.org) and see if someone wants to show you around town and clue you in on the cool jazz club or second-hand book shop that youd never find on your own. Sometimes it just takes one good contact to open up a whole social scene for you.

It's not easy

Emigrating is never an easy choice, despite the conviction of your friends and family that your life has become one big vacation.

There will be times when you feel alone and lost, confused and frustrated. You might feel like jacking the whole thing in and jumping on the first plane home.

Thats when its time to break out your favorite chocolate from home, a book or movie from your childhood and embrace a little escapism. Your work and personal projects might keep you going and if all else fails, invite an old boyfriend/girlfriend to come and share the experience with you. A comforting hug goes a long way when the local electricity surges and burns out your new Ipod.

Our new home will never be perfect but if you can make it through the first couple of months youll learn to chill out. Sure, maybe the Internet has gone down for the third time that week but its a great day for the beach or a mountain stroll one thing you dont want to pack with you is the stress and rush that became second nature back home.

Don't rush

So if by now youre feeling inspired to hit the road and relocate, hold off on telling your boss to get lost and bid eternal farewells to friends and family. The one thing you dont want to do is burn your bridges you might well end up returning home after a few weeks with your tail between your legs.

The first time I went to India I was sure it would be for the rest of my life. Hey, I was 18. And though the 6 months I spent there were enough to change my life forever, by the end I was desperate to escape the heat, the noise and the crowded streets. I longed for whole wheat bread, clean parks and a beer with old friends. Fortunately, they had the grace not to tease me too much about my vows never to return.

The bottom line is that theres no point in emigrating because your life at home has gone to hell. Whether you move to the hills of Sicily or the beaches of Venezuela, your problems will pack themselves into your suitcases and follow you wherever you go. Believe me, Ive tried it.

But for all that, the old saying about regretting the things you havent done rather than those that you have holds true. Imagine waking up in the morning not to an alarm clock but the sound of lapping waves. Or looking out of your window at mountains rather than concrete buildings.

So what if everyone back home does call you Peter Pan?

---

Tom Glaister is the founder and editor of www.roadjunky.com - The Online Travel Guide for the Free and Funky Traveller.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has sued three brokers for allegedly scalping tickets to the upcoming Hannah Montana concerts in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Nixon also announced his office reached an agreement with Ticketmaster to sell approximately 2,000 additional tickets to the young pop stars shows in those cities.

ConsumerAffairs.com has received numerous complaints from frustrated Hannah Montana fans nationwide. Consumers told us they were unable to purchase tickets to the teen idols show -- even though they were online or on the phone the moment the tickets went on sale.

Fans, however, said they could easily find Hannah Montana tickets at various brokers or on eBay. The prices were drastically inflated, though.

I was on TicketMaster 20 minutes before the Hannah Montana tickets went on sale at 10:00a.m., one parent from Nottingham, Maryland, wrote us. They were sold out at 10:01! My friends were also on the Web site at the same time and had problems.

Ten minutes later, the tickets were on eBay selling for triple the price. I am very upset that they allow people to sell these tickets online to make money, and my daughter, who is a true fan, can't go because I can't afford to spend $300 per ticket.

Missouris attorney general said his office received similar complaints from approximately 30 consumers who tried to buy tickets to Hannah Montanas upcoming concerts, scheduled for October 18 in St. Louis and December 3 in Kansas City.

Quick sell-outs

Consumers said when they attempted to buy tickets on line or over the phone -- at the designated times the tickets went on sale -- they discovered the shows were already sold out.

Missouri fans, however, said they immediately found scores of Hannah Montana tickets at various brokers for prices up to 20 times the face values.

Attorney General Nixon sued three ticket brokers for allegedly scalping Hannah Montana tickets: GoTickets Inc. and Tickets Now Entertainment Group Inc., both of Springfield, Illinois, and Ticket Solutions Inc. of Overland Park, Kansas.

Investigators from Nixons office purchased tickets from these online brokers to the teen idols Kansas City concert. They paid $254, $257, and $305 for tickets that had a face value of either $26 or $56.

Nixons lawsuits, filed in the Jackson County, Missouri, Circuit Court, alleged the brokers violated the states consumer protection laws by scalping tickets. The sale of tickets at prices far above the face values is a violation of a Kansas City municipal ordinance that prohibits scalping.

After November 28, however, ticket scalping in Kansas City will no longer be illegal.

The Missouri Legislature recently passed a measure that legalized these types of sales in the state. Some legislators, though, have said they may try to overturn that law in the next session, which convenes in January.

Blatant rip-off

In the meantime, Nixon said ticket scalping is still illegal.

It's also unfair to consumers.

These companies are able to employ inappropriate means, using sophisticated software, to hoard all the tickets to high-demand events and then turn around and sell them at grossly inflated prices, the attorney general said.

Its a blatant rip-off of consumers who attempt to purchase tickets in good faith through the proper means and are met with nothing but frustration.

ConsumerAffairs.com checked Ticket Solutions Web site today and found tickets to Hannah Montanas Kansas City concert for as much as $550 each. We contacted the company this morning, but the owner did not return our call.

We also checked GoTickets Inc.s Web site and found tickets to Hannah Montanas concert in St. Louis for as much at $1,345 each. When we called the company, the person who answered the phones told us we needed to e-mail our questions. The company had not responded to our inquiry by late this afternoon.

ConsumerAffairs.com also checked Tickets Now Entertainment Groups Web site for Hannah Montana tickets. That online broker had tickets to the pop stars St. Louis show for as much as $1,177 each. Tickets Now Entertainment Group had not answered our questions about the lawsuit by late this afternoon.

Ticketmaster agreement

In related news, Attorney General Nixon announced an agreement with Ticketmaster that gives Hannah Montana fans renewed hope of getting the much-coveted tickets.

Under the agreement, Ticketmaster will make approximately 2,000 additional tickets to Hannah Montanas concerts in Kansas City and St. Louis available to the public through what the attorney general called a balanced and fair distribution system. The tickets are currently being held by the artists promotion company.

Nixon said approximately 1,000 additional tickets to Hannah Montanas show in St. Louis will go on sale at 10 a.m. on October 13. An additional 1,000 tickets to the pop stars Kansas City concert will go on sale at 10 a.m. on October 20.

Consumers can purchase a maximum of two tickets to the concerts through Ticketmasters Web site or over the phone.

To prevent scalping, consumers must go to the venues box office on the concert date and present photo identification and the credit card they used for payment.

By requiring purchasers to appear at the box office and provide credit card and photo ID verification, we also are minimizing the impact that would-be scalpers will have on these sales, Nixon said. If these ticket brokers are rendered unable to hijack the system, real fans get the tickets at the prices set by the artists.

Nixon said he worked out this agreement so fans had a chance to get Hannah Montana tickets at a fair price. We wanted to make sure that a lot of frustrated moms and dads, with their disappointed kids, had the opportunity to purchase tickets to these concerts at face value.

One Missouri fan, who couldnt get Hannah Montana tickets for her eight-year-old daughter, applauded Nixons action.

I think its great, said Claire N. of Kansas City. I hope it will put a stop to the ticket scalpers.

Claire told us shell try again to get Hannah Montana tickets, but shes not optimistic about her chances. One-thousand tickets isnt going to be enough. There are still going to be a lot of upset people.

Nixon isnt the only attorney general cracking down on brokers that allegedly scalp Hannah Montanas concert tickets.

Arkansas probe

The Arkansas attorney general recently launched an investigation into the sale of these tickets to determine if some online brokers violated that states scalping laws.

I have a young daughter, and I really wish I could fix this problem for all the parents with disappointed kids right now, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said. However, what our investigation reveals thus far is that many of the tickets intended to be sold directly to Arkansas consumers were diverted to as yet unidentified bulk purchasers.

McDaniel said he learned of allegations that at least one company is selling a software product that allows users to breach Ticketmasters online system. Users who have this software, he said, can cut in line ahead of legitimate customers and block access to tickets at the site.

Sales at the box office are also tied into the Ticketmaster system, McDaniel said, and its possible that users of this software were able to block the full number of tickets intended to be available at the box office.

McDaniel also warned consumers that some tickets offered for sale on the Internet might be bogus. Some online ticket sellers might not have the tickets theyre selling, he cautioned, while other might sell counterfeit tickets.

Tips for ticket-buyers

McDaniel offered the following tips to consumers buying tickets online:

• Know who youre dealing with. Web sites have certain guidelines that resellers must follow, but not all sites verify ticket authenticity before permitting users to post them for sale;

• Avoid paying the seller directly with cash or a check. Many auction sites use separate services to handle the payment, which usually requires the use of a credit card. If purchases are made through a separate service or with a credit card, the consumer is more likely to have some recourse to dispute the charge if the tickets turn out to be bogus;

• Research the seller and the Web site. Web sites that display the Better Business Bureau seal usually have a buyer protection program. Consumers should also find out if the seller has a history of satisfied customers.

While there will always be issues relating to ticket availability where demand exceeds supply, the process must be fair to consumers, Attorney General McDaniel said. With these ticket sales, there is the additional problem that many are being offered on the Internet at prices far above the face value.

"In many instances, Arkansas law prohibits resale at prices over the face value plus a reasonable handling charge.

McDaniel, however, said its sometimes difficult to enforce ticket scalping laws with Internet transactions because the sellers may be in another state or country.

Google has accused Verizon Wireless of violating Federal Communications Commission rules in its lobbying efforts to roll back the FCC's recent rulingon the wireless spectrum auction.

The search giant sent a letter to the FCC alleging that representatives from Verizon Wireless, in a Sept. 17th meeting with FCC chairman Kevin Martin, heavily lobbied to reverse the "open access" requirement of the auction, which would enable wireless subscribers to use any handset to connect to any network they wish.

The actual content of the meeting was not disclosed until several days after it took place, and Martin is alleged to be reversing his stance on the open access rules in the wake of the meeting--a stance he had previously supported.

"This only undermines the ability of interested parties to assess and respond meaningfully to important legal and policy arguments, as intended under the FCCs ex parte rules," wrote Google's telecom counsel Richard Whitt.

"That some interested parties have managed to piece together something of the substance of the undisclosed discussions between Verizon and the FCC does not cure the improprieties."

Verizon's lobbying efforts followed the company's filing a lawsuit to overturn the "open access" rules, which the telecom called "arbitrary, capricious, unsupported by substantial evidence, and otherwise contrary to law."

The upcoming wireless spectrum auction could raise billions of dollars for the federal government, as well as provide the auction winners new avenues to develop wireless broadband services.

While incumbent telecoms such as AT&T and Verizon have pushed for the auction to have no strings attached, Google, tech policy advocates and startups such as Frontline Wireless wanted the auction to forge the foundation of new third-party wireless Internet service, offering a "third pipe" alternative to existing cable and telecom Internet services.

Google agreed to put up $4.6 billion for its bid in the auction if the rules satisfied its four requirements for complete open access. The FCC compromise rules only met two of those requirements, and Google has not publicly committed to bidding in the auction as of yet.

Too friendly to Ma Bell's kids?

Google's charges have renewed criticism of the FCC for being too friendly to incumbent telecom companies and supporting their needs at the expense of consumers.

Critics say FCC chair Martin has regularly gone out of his way to push legislation that would benefit the major telecoms, such as national video franchising rights and the megamerger of AT&T with BellSouth.

The telecom companies argue that they are investing billions of dollars in network upgrades and must have clear rules that make the risk tolerable.

A recent investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that not only did the FCC grant telecoms and businesses more access to its rulings than consumers and consumer groups, but that the FCC rulings were often solely based on data provided by the very same telecoms and industry groups.

According to the GAO report, several stakeholders in FCC rulings "knew when proposed rules were scheduled for an upcoming vote well before FCC released the agenda to the public because they hear this information from FCC bureau staff and commissioner staff. This advance information is not supposed to be disclosed outside of FCC."

"FCC officials said that they do not usually conduct their own studies in support of rulemaking issues," the report continued. "Instead, they rely mostly on external stakeholders to submit this information into the public record, and FCC staff analyze the information."

It's hardly a secret that lobbyists enjoy special access to the government officials they wheel and deal in hopes of getting laws passed, and government officials often exchange public service careers for lucrative lobbying jobs with the same companies.

FCC commissioners were grilled by a House Committee in March 2007 about allegations the commission has not done enough to protect consumers.

Richard Whitt reiterated Google's call for the FCC to support the open access requirements in the auction and not bend to backdoor lobbying efforts.

"[O]nly with consumer-driven devices on an open network can this significant, decades-long imbalance of interests have any chance of being righted," he wrote. "American consumers deserve an environment where independent companies and entrepreneurs for the first time can bring their innovative applications and mobile devices to an open marketplace."