Current Events in November 2011

In what was probably a foregone conclusion, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled the the cancer drug Avastin should not be used to treat breast cancer because there is no evidence that it is effective.

The drug remains on the market, since it is used primarily to treat colon cancer. It is still approved for that use.

Many breast cancer parients will likely be disappointed with the ruling, but FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the decision, though difficult, was necessary because patients have to have confidence the medication they are taking is effective.

Move not unexpected

As expected, the FDA took the advice of its panel of experts that studied the drug and its use to treat breast cancer. In June the panel recommended that Avastin not be used for breast cancer.

The ruling came in spite of strong pleas from breast cancer patients and Genentech, the pharmaceutical company that makes the drug. However, panel members said at the time that clinical trials simply failed to bear out the early promise for the drug.

Though Avastin will remain on the market, Genentech will no longer be allowed to market it as a breast cancer treatment. More importantly, insurance companies will no longer pay for it to treat breast cancer. The drug costs about $88,000 a year to treat one patient.

Last December FDA recommended removal of the breast cancer indication from the label for Avastin because it said the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use.

The recommendation followed a review of the results of four clinical studies of Avastin in women with breast cancer and a determination that the data indicate that the drug does not prolong overall survival in breast cancer patients or provide a sufficient benefit in slowing disease progression to outweigh the significant risk to patients.

These risks include severe high blood pressure; bleeding and hemorrhage; the development of perforations (or "holes") in the body, including in the nose, stomach, and intestines; and heart attack or heart failure.

The Commerce Department reports housing starts fell 0.3 percent in October, but it was a much better showing than most analysts expected. Building permits, an indicator of future activity, surged 10.9 percent during the month.

That news comes in the same week that the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that delinquencies on mortgage payments fell to just under eight percent in the third quarter, indicating homeowners are having a slightly easier time handling their mortgages.

People who want to buy homes, however, are still having a hard time qualifying for a mortgage, and therein lies the rub. Until more buyers move into the market, sales will remain soft and so will prices.

Fed to the rescue?

William C. Dudley, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, thinks addressing problems in the housing market is the best way to stimulate the economic recovery. In a speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. this week, Dudley said there are things the Fed can do to help.

“One significant problem is the trajectory of home prices,” Dudley said. “Homeowners have lost more than $6,000 billion in home equity since the housing market turned. For homeowners with mortgage debt, about one-quarter of these homeowners have mortgage debt that exceeds the value of their homes. The loss of home equity is a serious problem in itself of course, but it has been exacerbated by the fact that many households have found it very difficult to refinance to take advantage of lower mortgage rates.”

Without an improvement in the ability to refinance, Dudley says the outlook for real estate prices is not promising.

When it cut interest rates effectively to zero in late 2008, the Fed helped the nations banks get back on their feet. But that help to the banks has not been passed on to home buyers and sellers.

Dudley said he believes the Fed could help the real estate market by announcing its commitment to keep interest rates low and by purchasing mortgage backed securities.

“This would have a greater direct impact on the housing market and would be less likely to disrupt market functioning compared with further purchases in the Treasury market,” Dudley said.

Interest rates don't seem to be the problem

But mortgage rates are already near historic lows. The problem, says National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun, is homeowners can't meet lender new higher standards.

While “less awful” housing statistic are some reason for optimism, perhaps the most encouraging thing for the housing market is a growing sense among policymakers that it remains the key to economic recovery.

At the 2011 Realtors Conference & Expo last weekend, political leaders agreed that the struggling housing market needs to be a priority on the nation’s public policy agenda. The message appeared to be a bipartisan one.

“A healthy housing industry helps everyone in the country,: said Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA). “The housing market has led this nation out of every downturn we’ve had in the past.”

The sentiment was echoed by California's Democratic governor, Jerry Brown. He told attendees that while it’s important for consumers to live within their means it also critical that they invest in their futures, and one important way is through homeownership. He also said there needs to be more help for underwater homeowners through refinancing their mortgages or reducing their debt burden.

“The nation needs to have restored confidence in the housing market and economy,” Brown said.

Volkswagen is fuming over the Obama Administration's proposal to double auto fuel efficiency, saying the plan unfairly values hybrid and all-electric cars over clean diesel, a technology VW has pioneered.

VW, Europe's largest automaker and the fastest-growing automaker in the United States, already offers turbodiesel cars, station wagons and SUVs that routinely get nearly 50 miles per gallon on the highway.

"A lot of good work has been done, but there is room and a need for some improvements to keep a level playing field for all automakers to attain the challenging new goals," said Jonathan Browning, chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America.

VW saw its sales grow 40 percent in October and has estimated that about 22 percent of its U.S. sales are turbodiesels.  The German automaker's recent restyling and resizing of its cars to meet American tastes, has catapulted its standing with U.S. consumers.

A ConsumerAffairs.com analysis of more than 93,000 postings on Twitter, Facebook and other blogs and social media finds net consumer sentiment for VW staying firmly in positive territory for the last 12 months and vaulting to roughly 80 percent in the last month.

Eco cars 

No less an authority than non-profit Consumer Reports recently tested all of the mass-produced “Eco Cars” and named the Volkswagen Jetta TDI the winner.  The turbodiesel Jetta Sportwagen got 49 mpg on the highway and 36 overall ini CR's tests.  Other cars tested included the Ford Fiesta, Mazda2 and the Honda CR-Z, which performed so poorly that CR said it could not recommend it.

Consumer "likes" during the year don't single out turbodiesel's mpg performance but do take note of efficiency, performance and positive findings by reviews like those quoted above. 

Volkswagen is one of the few major automakers that did not sign onto an agreement that underpinned the Obama proposal to boost efficiency targets to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a target VW already approaches today with its clean-burning turbodiesel engines.

Big pickups

Besides overlooking the benefits of diesel, VW said the Obama plan unfairly favors the biggest pickups -- a staple of U.S. automakers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

Japanese manufacturers currently dominate the hybrid market.  GM makes the Chevy Volt, which so far is not setting the world on fire.  

European manufacturers have long favored diesel engines, which deliver superior mileage and relatively low emissions. 

Volkswagen's mid-size Passat TDI, which gets 43 mpg on the highway and is one of the brand's top sellers in the U.S., is built in Chattanooga, Tenn., the automaker noted.

Couldn't be better

Traditional consumer groups generally fell over themselves to praise the plan.

“The new standards could not be coming at a better time for consumers. This year, consumers are on track to spend a record $2,900 on gasoline per household. The average American family simply cannot afford to keep throwing good money after bad fueling up gas-guzzlers,” said Dr. Mark Cooper, Director of Research for the Consumer Federation of America.

“Once fully implemented, the new 54.5 MPG standard will save households $6,000 per car over the vehicle’s lifetime, while spurring automotive innovation that will create better choices for consumers. Americans love their cars, and they’ll love them even more when they go farther on a tank of gas,” Cooper added.

A lot of attention is paid to early detection of cancer but Stanford University researchers have developed a new mathematical model that shows tumors can grow for 10 years or longer before currently available blood tests will detect them.

“The study’s results can be viewed as both bad and good news,” said Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor and chair of radiology and the study’s senior author. 

The bad news, Gambhir said, is that by the time a tumor reaches a detectable size using today’s available blood tests, it is likely to have metastasized to other areas of the body, making it much more deadly than if it had been caught early on.

“The good news is that we have, potentially, 10 or even 20 years to find the tumor before it reaches this size, if only we can improve our blood-based methods of detecting tumors,” he said. “We think our mathematical model will help guide attempts to do that.”

The study advances previous research about the limits of current detection methods. For instance, it is strikingly consistent with a finding reported two years ago by Stanford biochemistry professor Patrick Brown, MD, PhD, that current ovarian cancer tests could not detect tumors early enough to make a significant dent in the mortality rate.

There is a push to develop more-sensitive diagnostic tests and find better biomarkers, and Gambhir’s new model could be an essential tool in this effort. It for the first time connects the size of a tumor with blood biomarker levels being shed by that tumor.

Mathematical model

To create their model, Gambhir and Hori used mathematical models originally developed to predict the concentration of drugs injected into the blood as they move in and out of the bloodstream. The investigators linked these to additional models of tumor cell growth.

Tumors don’t secrete drugs, but they can shed telltale molecules into surrounding tissue, from which those substances, known as biomarkers, diffuse into the blood. Some biomarkers may be made predominantly by tumor cells, while others exclusively by them. Either way, these substances can be measured in the blood as proxies for a tumor.

The new mathematical model employs separate equations, each governing the movement of a biomarker from one compartment into the next. Into these equations, one can plug known values — such as how fast a particular type of tumor grows, how much of the biomarker a tumor cell of this type sheds per hour and the minimum levels of the biomarker that must be present in the blood for a currently available assay to detect it.

In the last decade, many potential new biomarkers for different cancers have been identified. There’s no shortage of promising candidates — six for lung cancer alone, for example. But validating a biomarker in large clinical trials is a long, expensive process. So it is imperative to determine as efficiently as possible which, among many potential tumor biomarkers, is the best prospective candidate.

“This model could take some of the guesswork out of it,” Gambhir said. “It can be applied to all kinds of solid cancers and prospective biomarkers as long as we have enough data on, for instance, how much of it a tumor cell secretes per hour, how long the biomarker can circulate before it’s degraded and how quickly tumor cells divide."

Rarely do you see a week in which oil prices jump and gasoline prices drop, but this has been just such a week.

While the price of West Texas oil traded above $100 a barrel at times this week, the prices of gasoline dropped in nearly every state.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.384 per gallon, down from $3.438 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's nine cents a gallon less than what motorists were paying a month ago.

The price of diesel fuel, however, continues to go up. The average price of diesel fuel today is $3.996 per gallon, up from $3.932 a week ago.

Gas prices had been creeping higher in the previous weeks as crude oil prices began to regain strength. But this week prices at the pump began moving in the opposite direction. One reason may be that consumers continue to buy less gasoline.

“Since the beginning of October crude oil prices have risen from $75.67 to 98.99 per barrel — an increase of more than 30 percent,” said Avery Ash, AAA's manager of Federal Relations. “During this same period, as gasoline demand has remained sluggish due to high prices and a weak economy, the price at the pump has been relatively unchanged albeit at a price more than 50 cents higher than this time last year.”

However, with refiners paying more for crude oil, motorists can expect to be paying more for gasoline by the end of the year.

The states with the most expensive gas this week are:

• Hawaii ($4.147)
• Alaska ($4.030)
• California ($3.791)
• Washington ($3.726)
• Oregon ($3.678)
• Connecticut ($3.672)
• New York ($3.665)
• Nevada ($3.569)
• Montana ($3.540)
• Illinois ($3.504)

The states with the least expensive gas this week are:

• Missouri ($3.129)
• New Mexico ($3.151)
• South Carolina ($3.177)
• Texas ($3.210)
• Mississippi ($3.210)
• Tennessee ($3.213)
• Oklahoma ($3.218)
• Alabama ($3.224)
• Arkansas ($3.224)
• Louisiana ($3.226)

People who work in smoke-free workplaces may end up living longer, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic.

Their research, presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions this week in Orlando, Fla., shows that the incidence of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths was cut in half among Olmsted County, Minn., residents after a smoke-free ordinance took effect.

Adult smoking dropped 23 percent during the same time frame, as the rates of other risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity remained stable or increased.

“This study adds to the observation that smoke-free workplace laws help reduce the chances of having a heart attack, but for the first time we report these laws also reduce the chances of sudden cardiac death,” said Richard Hurt, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Center. “The study shows that everyone, especially people with known coronary artery disease, should avoid contact with secondhand smoke. They should have no -- literally no -- exposure to secondhand smoke because it is too dangerous to their health.”

Hurt played an instrumental role in the passage of smoke-free ordinances in Olmsted County and the state of Minnesota. He says evidence from this new study will strengthen efforts by the Global Smoke-Free Worksite Challenge, a recently formed tobacco control advocacy collaboration that debuted at a Clinton Global Initiative event. The Challenge will encourage other countries and employers to expand the number of employees able to work in smoke-free environments.

“We are going to use this information to help us convince corporations -- convince countries -- that this is the right thing to do to protect the health of their workers and their citizens,” Hurt said.

KEDS is recalling about 45,000 "Know It All" Girls' Shoes.  Ornamental stars on the heel of the shoe may loosen, posing a laceration hazard.

The firm has received 27 reports of cuts and scratches resulting from metal stars that loosened from the heel of the shoe.

This recall involves KEDS girls' rubber soled shoes. The shoes are black and pink with white trim and a pink loop on the heel. "KEDS" appears on the tongue and heel of the shoe. The style number KY40098A is printed on the underside of the tongue. The shoes were sold in girls' sizes 12 to 5.

Various department stores and online retailers sold the shows from June through October 2011 for about $23. They were made in China.

Consumers should take these shoes away from children immediately and contact Collective Brands to receive a gift card for $30 redeemable at Stride Rite stores or striderite.com.

For additional information, contact Collective Brands at (800) 365-4933 between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. ET Monday through Friday and between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday, Email kedskidsrecall@collectivebrands.com, or visit the firm's website www.collectivebrands.com

Ready Pac Foods, Inc. of Irwindale, CA is recalling a total of 5,379 cases of  bagged salad products containing Romaine lettuce, as listed below, with the Use-by Date of November 18, 2011 because they may be contaminated with E. coli (E.coli O157:H7).  

E.coli O157:H7 is an organism that may cause diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.

The recall extends only to the listed products with this Use-by Date and sold in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.  No other Ready Pac Foods, Inc. products are included in the recall.

The voluntary recall was initiated based on a single positive random sample result for E.coli O157:H7 reported to Ready Pac by the FDA. Ready Pac is fully cooperating with the FDA on the recall. Because it is still possible that products bearing the Use-by Date of November 18, 2011 could be on store shelves, this recall extends to retailers as well as consumers. Ready Pac believes that it is important to alert consumers and retailers who might still possess one of the potentially affected salads to dispose of it immediately. Instructions for Consumers: Check your refrigerator for the above listed products with the Use-by Date of November 18, 2011. The Use-by Date can be found in the upper left hand corner of the package with the UPC numbers located on the back side of the bag. Consumers who may have purchased the affected product are asked to record the Use-by Date and UPC number, immediately dispose of the product, and contact the Ready Pac Consumer Affairs representative, toll-free at (800) 800-7822, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Pacific Time) to obtain a full refund. Ready Pac Foods, Inc. has earned an outstanding safety record for over 40 years and has taken immediate precautionary measures to protect public health by issuing this voluntary recall and removing product from the market. We have notified all of our retail customers who have received the product in question and directed them to remove it from their shelves.

Though multivitamins have gained popularity year after year, many health professionals have discounted their benefits.

In 2008 Harvard Men's Health Watch, which once endorsed daily dietary supplements, changed its position, saying multivitamins might have some harmful health effects. The following year a study by the Women's Health Initiative suggested money spent on multivitamins was a waste.

False sense of security

Now, researchers in Taiwan say people who take a daily vitamin pill may be more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior. The study was conducted by researchers working for the Dole Nutrition Institute, which advocates a plant-based diet.

In the study, subjects were given placebos. Half of this group was led to believe that the placebo they were taking was a multivitamin.

After one week, all participants took surveys regarding their inclinations towards various healthy vs. less healthy behaviors. Researchers say the results were astounding.

More hedonistic behavior

The people told they were taking multivitamins registered a 44 percent higher tendency to engage in hedonistic activities, such as casual sex, sunbathing, partying, and binge drinking. When it came to dietary issues, 61 percent showed an increased preference for all-you-can-eat buffets over healthy meals.

Compared to the placebo group, the "multivitamin" group not only reported exercising 14 percent less, they were 66 percent more likely to walk the shortest distance to their goal over a given time.

The authors of the study conclude that people relying on a multivitamin pay a hidden price, believing they have greater invulnerability and so adopt lazy, riskier behaviors that may actually lead to the exact opposite health outcomes they desire. Then there's the financial price; consumers spend about $27 billion a year on multivitamins.

Lack of evidence

With regard to direct health impact, a "state-of-the-science" National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel found insufficient evidence to recommend multivitamin usage, while the National Cancer Institute actually found that men who take more than seven multivitamins a week are a third more likely to experience advanced prostate cancer.

The American Heart Association, in recent years, has backed away from vitamins and now urges people to forgo antioxidant supplements in favor of fruit and vegetables to minimize cardiovascular disease risk.

The competition between Google and Apple, two behemoths of the consumer technology world, continues to ratchet upward with the introduction of Google Music.

Google Music allows users to buy music through the Android Market, taking direct aim at Apple's music service, iTunes. Google says the idea is to allow consumers to access their music collections easily from any device.

However, while Apple and Google portray themselves as dueling innovators out to save you time and money, it's streaming services like Spotify that may actually offer the best deal -- meaning the most music with the least restrictions at the lowest cost.

Spotify offers millions of titles that you can stream through your computer, smartphone, iPod or other device.  Prices range from free to $9.99 per month for unlimited listening with extended audio fidelity. 

Google says its new store offers more than 13 million tracks from artists on Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, and the global independent rights agency Merlin as well as over 1,000 prominent independent labels including Merge Records, Warp Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Naxos.

At the store, consumers will purchase individual songs or entire albums using their computers or mobile Android devices. The music will be added to the user's Google Music library, where it can be accessed from other devices.

In addition, Google said users who buy music will have the ability to share a free full play of a purchased song with thour friends on Google+, the company's social networking site. Critics might say that Google has now completed the transition to full-scale corporatespeak by inviting you to promote its other products while claiming that as a consumer benefit.

Free music downloads

To celebrate the launch, Google said it is providing some music for free. The downloads include: song from a never-before-released live concert album from the Rolling Stones, recorded in 1973 

• A live recording of "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall," by Coldplay
• Busta Rhymes’s first single from his upcoming album, "Why Stop Now"
• Shakira’s live EP from her recent concert in Paris and her new studio single, “Je L’Aime à Mourir”
• Pearl Jam's live album of its 9/11/11 concert in Toronto
• Two live albums from the Dave Matthews Band
• Tiesto's new mix "What Can We Do"

Google says any artist who has all the necessary rights can distribute his or her own music on its platform, and use the artist hub interface to build an artist page, upload original tracks, set prices and sell content directly to fans—essentially becoming the manager of their own far-reaching music store.  

If you are a current or former Netflix subscriber, be on the lookout for an email that says you could receive compensation from a class action suit. This is one email that's not a scam.

The compensation is coming from Walmart. But it's not a lot of compensation. According to some estimates the average Netflix subscriber will get about $1.

The suit, which gained class status last January, claims Netflix and Walmart conspired to monopolize the DVD rental market. The suit, filed in 2009, claims Netflix and Walmart entered into an “unlawful market allocation agreement” in 2005, designed to neutralize Blockbuster's entry into the online DVD rental market the previous year.

The catalyst was Walmart's decision in 2005 to get out of the DVD-rental-by-mail business and refer customers to Netflix.

According to the plaintiffs, the agreement provided that Walmart would stop offering rental DVDs online, and Netflix would stop selling them. This arrangement was intended to reduce downward pricing pressure in the marketplace, prosecutors charged.

An expensive dinner

The scheme allegedly began in January 2005, when the companies' respective CEOs met for dinner to ponder ways to reduce competition in the online DVD market. Walmart has agreed to a $40 million settlement, which still must win approval from the courts, which will rule by March 2012.

After attorney's fees, consumers stand to share just $19 million. Consumers are free to opt out of the settlement, but must notify the court of their intentions by February 14, 2012. The number of consumers in the settlement will determine the amount each person receives.

Netflix, meanwhile, says it will not settle and contends it did nothing wrong.

Aging Baby Boomers have noticed it. As you get older, your hearing isn't what it once was. Turns out they aren't alone.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have concluded that nearly a fifth of all Americans 12 years or older have hearing loss so severe that it may make it hard to communicate.

Study leader Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, says that several previous estimates of hearing loss focused on various cities or populations, such as children or elderly patients. However, no estimate successfully encompassed the entire U.S.

“I couldn’t find a simple number of how common hearing loss is in the U.S.,” Lin said. “So, we decided to develop our own.”

Lin and his colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES), a research program that has periodically gathered health data from thousands of Americans since 1971. The researchers analyzed data from all participants age 12 and over whose hearing was tested during NHANES examinations from 2001 to 2008. Unlike previous estimates, NHANES includes men and women of all races and ages, from cities scattered across the country, so it’s thought to statistically mimic the population of the U.S.

Hearing threshold

The study used the World Health Organization’s definition for hearing loss - not being able to hear sounds of 25 decibels or less in the speech frequencies. The researchers found that overall, about 30 million Americans, or 12.7 percent of the population, had hearing loss in both ears.

That number jumps to about 48 million, or 20.3 percent, for people who have hearing loss in at least one ear. These numbers far surpass previous estimates of 21 to 29 million.

Hearing loss prevalence nearly doubled with every age decade, with women and blacks being significantly less likely to have hearing loss at any age. Lin and his colleagues aren’t sure why these groups appear to be protected. However, he notes that the female hormone estrogen, as well as the melanin pigment in darker skin, could have a protective effect on the inner ear—topics they plan to research in future studies.

In the meantime, Lin says, the new numbers greatly inform the work he and other researchers are doing on hearing loss and its consequences, which, according to previous studies, include cognitive decline, dementia, and poor physical functioning.

“This gives us the real scope of the problem for the first time and shows us how big of a problem hearing loss really is,” Lin said.

The study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

We've heard repeatedly from Sirius XM customers who say they have a difficult, if not impossible time cancelling the service when they no longer want to subscribe.

"I called to cancel the renewal of my service," Richard, of Poughquag, N.Y., told ConsumerAffairs.com. "However, customer care personnel said they could not handle the request. They transferred my call, or so they said, to the proper agent. After waiting 30 minutes I received no response. I tried the same procedure several times and the same situation occurred - that is, no response."

Richard says he called back another time and relayed the message and told the agent that they were responsible for cancelling his service, as he was not gong to try again.

"That evening I received three calls from customer care personnel informing me that that my service was not cancelled," Richard said. "When I again told them to cancel the renewal service they hung up on me."

It's hard to believe Sirius XM customer service people are so busy they don't have time to process a cancellation. Chances are they would really rather not give up a customer. We've been told by more than one consumer that, when dealing with customer service representatives, threatening to file a complaint with their state attorney general appears to be a magic phrase. We suggest Richard do that, and actually follow through with a complaint to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Hands off

When a company takes more money than it is supposed to from your bank account, it is very hard to get a refund. Companies don't like to give money back and many, in recent years, have established internal safeguards against employee fraud that can make it a difficult and complex process.

"My debit card was charged two times for my AAA membership and they won't refund me my money," said Roseller, of Las Vegas, Nev. "I've called several times and they said that they will give me a refund but it has been nine days. My husband is on his Army duty for two weeks in California and I told AAA that he needs money for gas and food and my checks are going to bounce if I don't get my refund and they keep telling me they will refund me my money but until now I haven't seen a single cent put back into my bank account."

If you can possibly avoid it, you should never give a company the ability to deduct monthly payments directly from your bank account. It is better to set up an auto bill pay through your bank, or if the company insists on a direct charge, give them a credit card instead of a debit card. A credit card charge can be disputed.

A fee for everything

Spirit Airlines makes no apologies for its fees - the highest of almost any other airline. The company points out that people who don't want to pay a lot to fly can avoid doing things that carry fees. But for travelers, like Leanna, of Delta, Colo., the first time flying Spirit can be something of a shock.

"At the time of booking I was not informed of any unusual charges," Leanna told ConsumerAffairs.com. "However when I went to check in I was shocked to be hit with the following unexpected and ridiculous charges which are not a part of any other airline that I know of; $40 for first check-in - more than double that of most airlines; Additional $33 for my carry-on! A $14 seat charge! Am I supposed to ride on the wing? Sit on the floor?"

Leanne says airlines need to make fees more transparent at the time of booking. Department of Transportation rules to do just that are in the works.

Crammed

Margaret, of Rockville, Md., said she opened her Verizon bill to discover she had been"crammed" by ILD Teleservices, which billed her $12.95 for a service called Compufix.

"I called the 800 number provided to demand the service be cancelled and the charge reversed," Margaret said. "The woman who answered tried to sell me on the service, saying that my husband had signed me up. He did not. I got a 'confirmation number' for the cancellation, but was told it would take three billing cycles for the charge to be reversed. Immediately after hanging up I called Verizon to report the issue, gave them the cancellation confirmation number and asked them to remove the charge and block all third-party billing on the account. I was told by the Verizon rep that my balance due on the account now reflected correctly, but I guess I will have to see."

In May of this year consumers filed a class-action suit against ILD, accusing the Florida-based company submitted fraudulent affidavits to the local telephone companies claiming that it had the required proper information for each transaction. The suit charged the actions violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as RICO.

The Obama Administration today unveiled a proposed rule that would require automakers to double the average fuel economy of their vehicles to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, estimating that the change would add $2,000 to the average price of a car.

The proposal brought howls of protest from automakers who warned the changes would price millions of Americans out of the new-car market, keeping older, less fuel-efficient cars on the road longer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated the changes would cost $157 billion while returning benefits of up to $515 billion. 

In a joint statement, the EPA and NHTSA said the Obama Administration is acting “to strengthen the economy and move the country forward because we can't wait for Congressional Republicans to act.”

Big costs, bigger savings?

The agencies said that, combined with other steps the Administration has taken to increase energy efficiency, the proposal will save Americans over $1.7 trillion at the pump, more than $8,000 per vehicle by 2025.

“These combined actions also will reduce America's dependence on oil by an estimated 12 billion barrels, and, by 2025, reduce oil consumption by 2.2 million barrels per day – enough to offset almost a quarter of the current level of our foreign oil imports. Taken together, these actions will also slash 6 billion metric tons in greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the programs,” the statement continued.

Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and 107 other U.S. House members yesterday sent a letter to Obama supporting the rule.

"We believe that these standards to reduce petroleum use in cars and light trucks represent an opportunity to increase our national and economic security in an unprecedented way by dramatically decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of petroleum," they wrote.

Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, opened an investigation into how it was written, saying it was rushed and may jeopardize safety by reducing the weight of vehicles on the road.

A proposed rule had been due Sept. 30 before regulators said they needed more time. The final rule is scheduled to be published next year.

"Steady improvements"

"By setting a course for steady improvements in fuel economy over the long term, the Obama administration is ensuring that American car buyers have their choice of the most efficient vehicles ever produced in our country. That will save them money, reduce our nation's oil consumption and cut harmful emissions in the air we breathe," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "This is an important addition to the landmark clean cars program that President Obama initiated to establish fuel economy standards more than two years ago.”

The Obama Administration had earlier reached agreement with Ford, Honda, Toyota and General Motors to achieve annual fuel-economy increases of 5 percent for cars. Volkswagen and Daimler AG were among automakers that didn't sign on to that agreement.

Dealers object

Today's proposal landed with a thud at the offices of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

"America's auto dealers support continuous improvement in the fuel economy of the fleet of vehicles that drive on the nation's roads," the association said in a statement. "To this end, we are concerned that adding about $3,000 to the average cost of a car will price millions of Americans out of the market, which could reduce fleet turnover and delay environmental gains."

EPA and NHTSA insisted the new standards will “rely on innovative technologies that are expected to spur economic growth and create high-quality jobs across the country.”

“The standards should also spur manufacturers to increasingly explore electric technologies such as start/stop, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles. The MY 2017-2025 proposal includes a number of incentive programs to encourage early adoption and introduction of 'game changing' advanced technologies, such as hybridization for pickup trucks.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has ordered Chase Investment Services Corporation to reimburse customers more than $1.9 million for losses incurred from recommending unsuitable sales of unit investment trusts (UITs) and floating rate loan funds.

FINRA also fined Chase $1.7 million.

To help pump money into small, independently owned businesses that accept the American Express Card, American Express is offering consumers a $25 credit when they use the card at participating businesses on Nov. 26, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

American Express created Small Business Saturday last year in response to struggling small business owners' effort to create more demand for their products and services. A total of 1.5 million Facebook users, 130 public and private organizations, and 41 elected officials declared their support for Small Business Saturday last year.

Building on last year's effort

The company said more than 100,000 small businesses downloaded marketing materials, 10,000 businesses signed up for free Facebook advertising that ran on Small Business Saturday, and 200,000 consumers registered their American Express cards to receive $25 statement credits when they shopped at a small business on SBS.

Small retailers who accept the American Express Card saw a 28 percent increase in sales on Small Business Saturday when compared to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2009, according to American Express.

This year, participation works the same way. Consumers who go to American Express's Facebook page can register their American Express cards. Then on Nov. 26, they simply make a purchase at an eligible small business and will receive a credit of up to $25 on their next American Express bill. Once you register your card, you can enter your zip code and see a list of eligible merchants.

FedEx joins in

Meanwhile, Federal Express has announced it is committing $1 million to the small business promotion by purchasing 30,000 American Express gift cards, good at small independently-owned businesses, and giving them away in a Facebook promotion.

Ten thousand additional cards will be distributed directly to FedEx customers. The company said the contribution means more money in the cash registers of locally-owned independent businesses during the holiday season.

"A vibrant small business community is critical to the health of the US economy and the cornerstone of the thousands of cities and towns FedEx serves every day," said T. Michael Glenn, executive vice president of Market Development at FedEx. "Through this commitment, FedEx is able to help raise awareness for Small Business Saturday as well as put money directly into the pockets of consumers while reminding them to support their local businesses during the holidays."

American Express released an online survey showing 38 percent of consumers said they planned to to shop for holiday gifts at small, independently owned, retailers by participating in the second annual Small Business Saturday on November 26.

Even without Herman Cain at the helm, the National Restaurant Association is preparing for another big Thanksgiving.  The trade group estimates that 14 million Americans will visit a restaurant for a Thanksgiving meal this year, and an additional 16 million will use restaurant takeout to supplement a meal at their own or someone else’s home.

In addition, 32 million Americans are expected to dine out while shopping on Black Friday, according to new research by the Association.

Whjy no groaning board at home?  In a word: convenience, according to Hudson Riehle, who is senior vice president of something called the "Research and Knowledge Group" at the restaurant association.

“In today’s activity-rich, time-poor society, restaurants play an important role in bringing friends and family together to share a holiday meal for Thanksgiving,” Riehle said. “Our research clearly shows that the convenience of restaurant meals – not having to shop, cook and clean up – drives consumer behavior and will lead millions of Americans to patronize restaurants this Thanksgiving.”

The cost of convenience 

Unfortunately, convenience can also drive the expansion of our waistlines, according to a study published by Penn State last year, before Joe Paterno had been sent to the sidelines.

The researchers surveyed chefs, restaurant owners, and culinary executives from across the country to assess their perceptions of serving healthy foods in restaurants.

In the survey, 72% of the 432 respondents said they could trim off 10% of the calories in meals without customers noticing differences in taste, and 21% said they could trim off at least 25% of the calories. This small change could lead to a major impact on the obesity epidemic.

"Reducing intake by as little as 100 calories per day can amount to a significant weight loss over a year," says Liane Roe, research nutritionist in Penn State's Department of Nutritional Sciences and co-author on the team's findings, which appeared in Obesity.

Roe and co-author Barbara Rolls, holder of the Helen A. Guthrie Chair in Nutrition, found that many chefs were not familiar with the calorie content of the meals they served. 49% were only somewhat familiar with how many calories their meals contained and stunningly, 7% had no idea at all.

"If a large number of chefs don't know the calorie content of their food, they will be limited in their ability to modify what they serve to guests," said Roe.

On the road again

Besides convenience, consumers who plan to dine out for a Thanksgiving meal this year say they will do so because they are traveling and don’t have the ability to cook (22 percent), they prefer to go to restaurants on special occasions (15 percent), somebody else is hosting and they prefer to dine out (15 percent), and they don’t have enough space to host a Thanksgiving event (12 percent). 

For those planning to order full or partial Thanksgiving meals for takeout, those who didn’t cite convenience as the main reason said they will turn to restaurants because they aren’t good cooks (15 percent), they don’t have time to prepare food (10 percent), and the taste and quality of restaurant food is better (3 percent). 

Overall, 55 percent of American adults say they plan to eat a meal at their own home this Thanksgiving, 46 percent say they plan to eat a meal at someone else’s home, 6 percent plan to dine at a restaurant, and 3 percent don’t plan to have a special meal. One in 10 plans to have more than one Thanksgiving meal this year. 

The National Restaurant Association surveyed 1,011 American adults on November 10-14 about their dining plans for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Projections for the number of Americans who will visit restaurants or order takeout are based on economic analysis and research conducted over the last two decades by the National Restaurant Association. 

It's a good rule of thumb that whenever any of your Facebook “friends” tell you about a great free offer, it's probably a scam. The latest hot freebie scam making the Facebook founds is the free Southwest Airlines tickets scam.

The messages are being left on victims' walls, as though they are from Facebook friends.

“Aweet! i just got 2 free flight vouchers from Southwest Air to fly to any destination i can think of lmao!,” one message says. “i didnt believe it would work but it was, got it here..[LINK] try for yourself i just figured i would share with everyone.”

For the record, Southwest isn't giving away free tickets. If you were to fall for the scam and click on the link, you would be taken to a site that appears to be the official Southwest site, but is actually a rogue site set up by the scammer.

At that point, you'll be asked to allow installation of third-party software to allow you to register for the tickets. If you agree, you will download rogue software that can access your profile and post messages from your account.

Last month the hot Facebook scam was the promise of free giftcards from Starbucks. That scam has now migrated from Facebook and is being distributed through spam emails.

An email received at ConsumerAffairs.com today reads:

“Facebook Users!, Starbucks is gifting away new giftcards! Rush, Dont waste any time. Here is webpage (link) There just 332 left!!!

The rest of the scam is pretty much the same. Users are enticed into downloading an application that gives the scammer access to your Facebook account.