Current Events in September 2012

Social networks are the darlings of today's technorati. Google is just all aglow today with its announcement that Google+ now has more than 100 million monthly active users.

“We couldn’t have imagined that so many people would join in just 12 months,” Google executive Vic Gundotra gushed. Facebook reports having 955 million monthly users so put that all together and you have a huge pile of unfiltered information, much of it trivial, a little of it interesting but some of it also quite dangerous.

A recent FBI report summarizing a long-running case in Virginia shows just how dangerous social media can be and provides yet another reason why parents need to keep a close eye on their kids’ involvement with social sites. 

During a three-year period ending in March 2012, members of a violent Virginia street gang used social media to recruit vulnerable high-school age girls to work in their prostitution business, the FBI recounted.

Five defendants in the case recently pleaded guilty to federal charges and the gang leader —27-year-old Justin Strom—was sentenced to 14 to 40 years in prison, while the sentences handed down for the other four defendants totaled 53 years.

Strom headed up the Underground Gangster Crips (UGC), a Crips “set” based in Fairfax, Virginia. The Crips originated in Los Angeles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and since then, the gang has splintered into various groups around the country. Law enforcement has seen a number of Crips sets in the U.S. engaging in sex trafficking as a means of making money.

Trolling the web

That’s certainly what was happening in Virginia, as the FBI and local media tell it. Strom and his UGC associates would troll social networking sites, looking for attractive young girls. After identifying a potential victim, they would contact her online using phony identities, complimenting her on her looks, asking to get to know her better, sometimes offering her the opportunity to make money as a result of her looks.

If the victim expressed interest, Strom or one of his associates would ask for her cell phone number to contact her offline and make plans to meet.

After some flattery about their attractiveness, sometimes hits of illegal drugs and alcohol, and even mandatory sexual “tryouts” with Strom and other gang members, the girls were lured into engaging in commercial sex, often with the help of more senior girls showing them the ropes. The girls might be sent to an apartment complex with instructions to knock on doors looking for potential customers…or driven to hotels for pre-arranged meetings…or taken to Strom’s house, where he allowed paying customers to have sex with them. 

Some of the juvenile victims were threatened with violence if they didn’t perform as directed and many were given drugs or alcohol to keep them sedated and compliant.

Strom and his associates did not discriminate—their victims were from across the socio-economic spectrum and represented different ethnic backgrounds. 

Tips for parents

Here's some advice from the FBI on keeping your kids safe:

Talk to your kids about the dangers of being sexually exploited online and offline.

Make sure your kids’ privacy settings are high, but also keep in mind that information can inadvertently be leaked by friends and family…so kids should still be careful about posting certain information about themselves—like street address, phone number, Social Security number, etc.

Be aware of who your kids’ online friends are, and advise them to accept friend requests only from people they know personally.

Know that teens are not always honest about what they are doing online. Some will let their parents “friend” them, for example, but will then establish another space online that is hidden from their parents.

Teens sometimes employ an “Internet language” to use when parents are nearby. For example:
- PAW or PRW: Parents are watching
- PIR: Parents in room
- POS: Parent over shoulder
- LMIRL: Let’s meet in real life

While jobless college graduates get a lot of ink, it's older Americans who are being hit hardest by the weak economy. An AARP study finds that while more than 20 million people over age 50 are struggling to make ends meet, there are few programs specifically designed to address their often complex situation.

AARP said its research finds that many older Americans face overwhelming stresses from mounting debt, poor credit, insufficient savings and even loss of their family homes, while others face the added pressures of caring for adult children and aging parents. Yet, there are few financial education programs that speak to the unique needs of older low-income workers and their families.

In an effort to address the distinct needs of low-income workers and jobseekers age 50 and older, the AARP Foundation and Charles Schwab Foundation have launched a new financial capability program, AARP Foundation Finances 50+, which is being rolled out in seven major cities across the United States. 

“This is really a financial intervention program, designed to help people before they fall deeper into instability,” said Jo Ann Jenkins, president of AARP Foundation. “We know that stabilizing a person’s financial situation and increasing their financial capability can be a prerequisite for success in finding and retaining a job. This program is about empowering individuals to take control of their finances regardless of their circumstances.”

Teens and young adults

“Financial capability efforts in this country have been mainly focused on educating teens and young adults, and there hasn’t been enough emphasis on reaching older adults of lesser means,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of Charles Schwab Foundation. “In light of the numbers of older Americans living on the brink of financial disaster, and the expected growth of this population in the coming years, we wanted to do something to make a difference, and we felt we could make the greatest impact by joining forces with an organization like AARP Foundation.”

The program aims to give low-income older workers and jobseekers not only the skills and tools to reduce debt, repair credit and build savings, but also the encouragement and motivation to overcome emotional obstacles and put their lives back on track.

The program is being piloted in seven cities across the U.S.:  Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Denver; New Orleans; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C..

For those who do not reside in any of the seven pilot cities, Finances 50+ materials, including a participant workbook and volunteer guide, are available online at aarp.org/finances50plus. 

Airlines reported 18 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights and one tarmac delay of more than four hours on international flights in July, according to a new U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Air Travel Consumer Report. 

Sixteen of the long domestic tarmac delays took place on July 13 and involved flights bound for or departing from Chicago O’Hare Airport, where severe storms affected the area that day. DOT is investigating all of the reported tarmac delays. 

The larger U.S. airlines have been required to file complete reports on their long tarmac delays for domestic flights since October 2008. Under a new rule that took effect Aug. 23, 2011, all U.S. and foreign airlines operating at least one aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats must report lengthy tarmac delays at U.S. airports. 

Also beginning Aug. 23, 2011, carriers operating international flights may not allow tarmac delays at U.S. airports to last longer than four hours. There is a separate three-hour limit on tarmac delays involving domestic flights, which went into effect in April 2010. Exceptions to the time limits for both domestic and international flights are allowed only for safety, security, or air traffic control-related reasons. Severe weather could cause or worsen such situations. 

Among other areas covered by the report are: 

On-time performance 

• The reporting carriers posted an on-time arrival rate in July of 76.0 percent, compared with July 2011’s 77.8 percent mark and June 2012’s 80.7 percent. 

Cancellations 

• The reporting carriers canceled 1.4 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in July, versus the 1.7 percent cancellation rate posted in July 2011 June 2012’s cancellation rate of 1.1 percent. 

Chronically delayed flights 

• At the end of July, there were four flights that were chronically delayed -- more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time -- for three consecutive months. There were 14 additional flights that were chronically delayed for two consecutive months. There were no chronically delayed flights for four consecutive months or more. 

Causes of flight delays 

• In July, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 6.07 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared with 4.82 percent in June; 9.03 percent by late-arriving aircraft, versus 6.98 percent in June; 6.32 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared with 5.62 percent in June; 0.82 percent by extreme weather, versus 0.50 percent in June; and 0.04 percent for security reasons, the same as in June. Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category. 
• Data also show the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In July, 40.71 percent of late flights were delayed by weather -- up 6.54 percent from July 2011, when 38.21 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and up 35.79 percent from June when 29.98 percent of late flights were delayed by weather. 

Mishandled baggage 

• The U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 3.52 reports per 1,000 passengers in July, compared with July 2011’s rate of 3.72 and June 2012’s rate of 3.35. 

Incidents involving pets 

• In July, carriers reported three incidents involving the loss, death or injury of pets while traveling by air; six reports were filed in July 2011 and two reports were filed in June 2012. July’s incidents involved two pet injuries and one lost pet. 

Complaints about airline service 

• In July, there were 2,466 complaints about airline service from consumers, up 91.8 percent from the 1,286 complaints filed in July 2011, and up 49.2 percent from the 1,653 received in June 2012. 

Complaints about treatment of disabled passengers

• The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in July against airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The department received a total of 97 disability-related complaints in July compared with 75 complaints filed in July 2011 and 81 in June 2012. 

Complaints about discrimination 

• In July, the DOT received 16 complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability -- such as race, religion, national origin or sex. There were five recorded in July 2011 and 10 in June 2012. 

Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590; by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the Web. 

Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation number or their travel agent. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents. The information is also available on the appropriate carrier’s Website.

When Stanford researchers released a study of organic food earlier this month, the headline was the finding of no significant difference in nutritional content when compared with conventional food. But organic advocates say that's misleading.

"Here's what the study said. It confirmed the major differences in pesticides on conventional foods and antibiotics in non-organic meat," Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods, said in an interview today with Yahoo!'s Daily Ticker. "I thought it was a major affirmation of the differences and reasons why someone would choose an organic product."

Robb also said he disagrees with the conclusion that there is no nutritional difference. He pointed to other studies that he said show nutrient density in organic food 20 to 50 percent greater that conventional food.

New study

The Organic Center, an organic advocacy group, issued a new report this week using analytical tools and data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to determine the nutritional quality and pesticide risk of a typical diet for a 30-year old woman.

The report compares the effects of "Jane Doe's" traditional diet with a new diet that reflects modest food changes, replacing several high-calorie foods with nutrient-dense fruit and vegetable-based products, and purchasing mostly organic fruits, vegetables, and grain-based products.

The study found that by making a few simple modifications, her daily intake of fruits and vegetables rose from 3.6 servings to 12.3 servings, her overall nutritional quality rose by 79 percent -- based on a comparison of intakes across 27 essential nutrients -- and by consuming mostly organic fruits and vegetables, her pesticide risk was reduced by over two-thirds.

Fewer calories

Jane Doe also consumed 10 fewer calories per day, which is enough to prevent long-term weight gain approaching 10 pounds per decade, assuming Jane remains at least as active as in her 20s.

"Jane Doe's smart food choices will help stabilize her weight, improve the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy and markedly reduce the chance that pesticides might disrupt or impair her child's development. This trio of benefits will pay dividends over a lifetime, and perhaps also across generations," said report author Charles Benbrook, the Organic Center's chief scientist.

Substitutions

Here's a list of the the top eight things the study found yielded the greatest benefit when substituted for traditional food items:

1. Whole wheat bread instead of white bread
2. Peanut butter instead of butter
3. Fresh, organic strawberries instead of strawberry jam
4. Plain yogurt topped with fruit instead of fruit-filled yogurt
5. Tomato juice instead of a lemon-lime soda
6. 50 percent whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta
7. One whole apple instead of apple pie
8. Light cream instead of coffee creamer

The University Creamery at Penn State is recalling all ice cream and frozen yogurt made between May 16, 2012, and August 11, 2012, because of isolated incidents involving reports of small plastic foreign objects in the product. 

The recalled ice cream was manufactured and sold from the Berkey Creamery on the University Park campus of Penn State and also was available for purchase on the internet from the Creamery’s Website. 

In mid-August, University police began a criminal investigation into several isolated incidents involving reports of small foreign objects in ice cream manufactured by the University Creamery on the University Park campus. The Creamery has received three reports of consumers finding small plastic pieces in the ice cream, specifically, three small pieces of plastic less than 21 mm (about .82 inches) in size. 

While the reports have only related to half-gallon containers, the Creamery is extending the recall to cover all ice cream and frozen yogurt in all container sizes made during the time period listed above. 

Ice cream subject to the recall will bear a BEST IF USED BY date on the label falling on or between Feb. 10, 2013, and Aug. 11, 2013. Consumers who have purchased ice cream covered by this recall are urged to not eat the ice cream and to return any product subject to the recall to the place of purchase for a full refund or exchange. Consumers with questions may contact the Creamery at 1-855-677-0464 (toll-free). 

No illnesses or injuries have been reported in connection with this situation. Anyone who believes he may have ingested an object should immediately consult a healthcare professional. 

An independent investigation of the reports of foreign objects conducted for the Creamery, while not conclusive, suggests that the objects did not enter the ice cream during the manufacturing process. 

The Creamery has extended the recall to cover not only the dates when the ice cream was made that were subject to the reports, but to also include all ice cream made during a buffer period after the last known production date, up to the point when the Creamery instituted enhanced security measures to protect against the chances of undetected objects being placed in the ice cream. 

These measures include limiting access to production and packaging areas, increased surveillance systems, purchase of an X-ray device and metal detectors, and notification of ingredient suppliers. In the near future, the Creamery also will move to a tamper-resistant packaging solution.

The presidential race isn't the only contest on the ballot this fall. In several states voters will consider a number of questions about the status of marijuana, most of which would reduce penalties for its possession.

Nine former directors of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are calling on the U.S. Justice Department to actively oppose the initiatives in states where they appear on the ballot.

The former officials have signed a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder urging his office to take active steps to make sure measures that seek to de-penalize the personal use and possession of cannabis by adults do not pass.

"We urge you to oppose publicly Amendment 64 in Colorado, Initiative 502 in Washington and Measure 80 in Oregon," the letter states. "To continue to remain silent conveys to the American public ... a tacit acceptance of these dangerous initiatives."

Every former director signs

Every former director of the DEA since the agency was founded signed the letter.

Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, Initiative 502, and Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, all seek to amend state law to allow for the limited possession and distribution of cannabis to adults.

According to the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) both Amendment 64 in Colorado and Initiative 502 in Washington hold solid leads among likely voters. Last week, a Survey USA poll of Washington voters showed I-502 ahead by a margin of 57 percent to 34 percent.

The DEA letter did not specifically address separate state initiatives in Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Montana that seek to regulate the physician-recommended use and distribution of cannabis.

Helped defeat California initiative

Holder's office previously spoke out in 2010 against Proposition 19 in California after receiving a similar letter from past chiefs of the DEA. That measure sought to allow for the limited possession and cultivation of cannabis for adults. The measure was defeated at the polls by a vote of 46.5 percent to 53.5 percent.

State and local moves to lessen penalties for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana puts the states in conflict with the federal government on the issue. Under U.S. law, possession of any amount of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

It's not enough that you use a car seat for your children anytime they get in a vehicle. If it isn't properly installed they could still be at risk in the event of an accident.

AAA, after a recent survey, said it's clear that many parents are still missing the mark, even with new technologies like Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) that are supposed to take some of the guesswork out of the process.

AAA's recent survey of Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPSTs), those certified to inspect and properly install car seats, reveals that LATCH misuse is cause for concern. Nearly three-quarters of CPSTs surveyed observe parents misusing the LATCH system more than half of the time.

"While strides have been made to make car seats easier to use, the overwhelming majority of car seats are still not installed properly," said Jennifer Huebner-Davidson, manager, Traffic Safety Advocacy at AAA.

LATCH has been standard equipment since 2002 and is generally regarded as a user-friendly alternative to the seat belt. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 75 percent of parents with experience installing car seats using both methods prefer LATCH.

No guarantee

Despite this preference, LATCH does not guarantee a perfect installation; a recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) survey found that only 13 percent of parent volunteers were able to use LATCH correctly to install car seats.

Part of the problem is where parents place the seat. For years they have been told the safest position in the vehicle is the rear-center seat. However, in an IIHS study of 2010-11 model year vehicles, only seven of the 98 top-selling vehicles supported LATCH use in the rear-center seat.

AAA's safety experts say many parents make the mistake of using the inner anchor for each outboard seat to install a car seat in the center seat using LATCH. If the vehicle does not support a LATCH installation in the rear-center seat, a seat belt should be used to secure the car seat, or the car seat should be moved to an outboard seat.

Parents should also consult the vehicle owner's manual before installing a car seat in any vehicle, AAA says.

It didn't take long for the iPhone 5 to sell out once carriers who will offer it started taking orders over the weekend. Apple may introduce only one new smartphone per year but when it does, everyone seems to want it.

AT&T reports pre-order sales for the iPhone 5 set a record over the weekend, with customers ordering more of the devices than any previous model both on its first day of pre-orders.

The carrier did not release any numbers for sales but did say there are still phones available for pre-order and that it expects to have a supply of the devices in stores September 21 when it officially goes on sale.

Not everyone's buying one

But not every tech aficionado is lining up to buy the new iPhone. James Kendrick, who writes about mobile technology for ZDNet, says he, for one won't be rushing out to buy the new iPhone.

He says it's not because it's not a good phone -- he calls is a very "solid" upgrade. The problem, he says, is that he still has another year to go on his Verizon contract for his iPhone 4S. To get a new phone now would require him to pay the full, unsubsidized price. In his case, since he would buy the top of the line 64 GB model, his cost would be more than $800.

Other consumers may be held by by their carriers recent change in policies, requiring new contracts to switch to a shared data plan rather than unlimited data. Verizon Wireless customers, for example, may keep their unlimited data plans until they buy a new subsidized phone. At that point they must switch to a shared data plan.

Readily available technology can dramatically reduce deadly carbon monoxide (CO) emission rates from certain common portable gasoline-powered generators, according to a new study released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

The technology can provide additional critical time for consumers to recognize and escape from the deadly hazard of carbon monoxide poisoning. With the adaptation of existing emission control technology, CO rates can be lowered to levels that would save lives. On average, carbon monoxide from portable gasoline-powered generators kills more than 70 people every year. 

Closed-loop fuel injection 

CPSC staff's study outlined one method to reduce the generator engine's CO emission rate by using closed-loop electronic fuel injection and a small catalyst-the same emission control technology used on motor scooters and small motorcycles. 

This significantly increased the predicted escape time by twelve times the current time-from eight minutes to 96 minutes for the deadly scenario when a consumer is in the garage while they are running a generator there. 

The study also showed that the predicted escape time for those consumers inside the house, as opposed to the garage, was even greater. The escape time is the time between onset of obvious symptoms and incapacitation. 

Generator caution urged 

The CPSC continues to urge consumers to never run their portable generators in their attached garages, in or even near their houses, including avoiding placement outside near windows or vents. Generators should only be used outside, far away from homes. CPSC cautions that even if portable gasoline-powered generators were to incorporate this technology, they would still need to be used outside, far from the home. The technology does not make them safe for indoor use. 

Another important line of defense against CO poisoning is having CO alarms on each level of the home and outside sleeping areas. Based on available alarm data 93 percent of CO-related deaths involving generators take place in homes with no CO alarms. 

Much like smoke alarms are designed to alert consumers about smoke or fires, CO alarms are designed to alert consumers to dangerous CO levels and give them time to get out of the house before becoming incapacitated. 

Deaths involving portable generators have been on the rise since 1999 when generators became widely available to consumers. There have been at least 755 CO deaths involving generators from 1999 through 2011. While reporting of incidents for 2011 is incomplete, there were at least 73 CO related deaths involving generators last year. 

Generators are responsible for the largest number of estimated non-fire CO deaths associated with consumer products. From 2006 through 2008, generators accounted for 43 percent of CO deaths compared to 33 percent for heating systems, such as furnaces. Furnaces had historically been responsible for the most CO deaths. 

With the release of this study, CPSC is urging manufacturers to voluntarily adopt a stringent CO emission standard for engines used in portable gasoline-powered generators with the expectation that it will improve safety and save lives, just as the marine industry did in 2005. 

That year, manufacturers of small marine generator engines, voluntarily adopted a stringent CO emission standard to address the hazard of acute poisoning that was causing fatal and serious injuries to boaters exposed to marine generator engine exhaust.

Serenade Foods of Milford, IN, is recalling approximately 2,250 pounds of crunchy chicken strip products that may contain fragments of plastic. 

The following products are subject to recall:

• 7.5-lb cases containing 30-oz. cartons of "Milford Valley Farms Crunchy Chicken Strips" 

The cartons bear the establishment number "P-2375" inside the USDA mark of inspection and the UPC code 0-73981-32286-7. The products, with a use by date of Jan. 17, 2014, were packaged on Jan. 17, 2012, and shipped to a distributor in Lakeland, FL for further distribution. 

The company alerted U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the problem after receiving two consumer complaints. There have been no reports of injury or illnesses associated with consumption of this product. Anyone concerned about an injury should contact a healthcare provider. 

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Janelle Deatsman, Communications Manager, at 1-866-873-7589.

Consumers, it seems, are deciding they can live without banks. At the time a grassroots campaign urged Americans to transfer their accounts from large national banks, government statistics show consumers were dropping out of banks altogether.

The survey, conducted every two years by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), shows that 28 percent of U.S. households either had no bank in 2011 or used minimal banking services.

According to the 2011 Survey, 821,000 more U.S. households are operating without a bank account since the first survey in 2009, representing a 0.6 percentage point increase. More than half of all unbanked households said they do not have an account because they believe they do not have enough money or that they do not need or want an account. In addition, the report shows that three in ten households nationally don't have a savings account.

"The results of the 2011 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households indicate that insured financial institutions have an important chance to grow their customer base by expanding opportunities that bring unbanked and underbanked individuals into mainstream banking" said FDIC acting chairman Martin J. Gruenberg.

One in 12 households has no account

The survey shows that 8.2 percent of U.S. households have no bank account. This represents one in 12 households in the nation, or nearly 10 million in total.

Approximately 17 million adults live in households with no bank account. More than 20 percent of U.S. households are considered underbanked, meaning they have minimal banking services. This represents one in five households, or 24 million households with 51 million adults.

The survey found that 29.3 percent of households do not have a savings account, while about 10 percent do not have a checking account. About two-thirds of households have both checking and savings accounts.

What do consumers use if they don't have a bank account? One-quarter of households have used at least one alternative financial service (AFS), such as non-bank check cashing or payday loans in the past year, and almost one in ten households have used two or more types of AFS products or services.

More people turning to alternative financial services

In all, 12 percent of households used an AFS in the past 30 days, including four in 10 unbanked and underbanked households.

FDIC is concerned by the numbers. While banking fees have proliferated in recent years, the agency says consumers tend to benefit if they have a relationship with a bank.

"There are many positives to establishing a relationship with an insured financial institution,” Gruenberg said. “Access to an account at a federally insured institution provides households with the opportunity to conduct basic financial transactions, build wealth, save for emergency and long-term security needs and access credit on fair and affordable terms."

Being paid for doing nothing always sounds great but frequently carries risks that aren't immediately apparent. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) says that's the case with oil and gas leases presented to landowners around the country.

EWG and about 100 other organizations are calling on the Obama administration to address the impact of deceptive oil and gas leasing practices on U.S. property values and mortgages.

In a letter to Richard Cordray, director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the groups urged the agency to focus on companies that misrepresent or conceal the inherent risks of fracking as they approach landowners to lease their property for oil and gas exploitation.

“As we continue to weather this country's housing crisis, regulators must prevent oil and gas companies from using deception to acquire drilling leases - deception that could carry ramifications for homeowners and lenders," said Thomas Cluderay, EWG assistant general counsel.

“We encourage the CFPB to look into the risks that homeowners and their families face in signing these lease contracts, such as inadvertently signing away their property rights and potentially losing the value of their homes or being stuck with water unsafe to drink," said Ellen Bloom, director of federal policy for Consumers Union.

The organizations ask the federal watchdog bureau to:

• Investigate the extent to which oil and gas companies misrepresent or fail to disclose the risks of drilling and hydraulic fracturing when they approach landowners to lease their land for drilling operations;
• Develop robust disclosure standards and other regulations that would prevent oil and gas companies from engaging in deceptive leasing practices and hold them accountable for representations made by their leasing agents; and
• Work with state regulators, the lending community, insurance companies and public interest groups to develop a campaign to educate the public about the ways that oil and gas leases may affect property values and mortgages.

Risks downplayed

An EWG investigation found that drilling companies regularly disclose the risks of fracking to their shareholders and investors, yet downplay or conceal these very same risks from potential leaseholders.

Some of the risks disclosed to investors but not property owners include leaks, spills, explosions, bodily injury and even death.

The letter to Cordray says: "The debate over drilling and hydraulic fracturing has largely focused on whether it can be done safely, without compromising water supplies. However, we cannot afford to ignore its serious spillover effects, including how drilling operations affect property values and mortgages. We believe this is an area where the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be taking the lead to protect the public, especially when no other regulatory agency appears to have the ability to address this issue on a comprehensive, national scale."

So you’re walking down a street that has a lot of tiny shops with big display windows. Before leaving home that day you had a mental argument with yourself about saving money and the conversation when something like this:

"Okay, last night was the last time I’m eating out for a few weeks, I just have to buy groceries today," you think to yourself. 'Oh yeah, I also have to get a new cell phone contract because these rates for my data plan are killing me. And that darn cable bill, first thing Monday morning I’m going to call and renegotiate my’ ... then all of a sudden, before you can finish the thought, something catches the corner of your eye.

Is it? Could it be? It’s those darn shoes you saw the other week that you really wanted, and that conversation you were having with yourself is now replaced by a very vivid mental picture of you owning and wearing those shoes that cost way too much.

You then mentally proclaim "this will be the last spontaneous purchase I’ll make for quite some time" -- and you proceed into the boutique and buy what you know you can’t truly afford.

Very satisfying

Has this ever happened to you? Chances are yes, and it also happens to a lot of us. What is it about buying expensive items that we can’t afford? Why does it seem so satisfying?

In a 2011 study lead by Cornell University, it showed that buying expensive items helps to lift moods of low self-esteem, and improves feelings of low self-worth, at least temporarily.

Researchers Niro Sivanathan and Nathan Pettit gathered a group of volunteers to determine why people buy expensive items even though they may not need them or can’t afford the cost. The participants were separated into two groups and each was given a computerized intelligence test.

Afterward, half of the group was told they scored well on the test and possessed a high level of intelligence. The other half of the group was told they did poorly on test and had a low level of intelligence. Both results were actually phony and the test itself was comprised of random questions that had no ability to gauge intellect.

Each group then viewed a snazzy new pair of designer jeans and researchers asked how much the participants would pay to own them. The group that was told they weren’t intelligent by scoring poorly on the test offered to pay 30 percent more for the jeans than the other group. Researchers also learned the group that was told they weren't smart was 60 percent more likely to purchase the product with a credit card.

According to the researchers, paying more for the jeans helped soothe the recent news of not being considered smart for one group. Paying for an item they considered to be luxurious and highly coveted, lifted the low-esteem feeling that was associated with the news of doing badly on the intelligence test.

Something called framing

Experts say another reason one may choose to spend money on an item is because they’re being tricked by a pricing technique called “framing”.

Gizem Saka, an economics professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, explained in her writings that manufactures will create an extremely overpriced product just so consumers will buy another product of theirs that’s priced  lower.

For example, one day you walk into a Target let’s say, and notice two coffee makers. One is priced at $50 the other priced at $100, and in theory the pricier machine works better and is of higher quality.

Since you’re not a coffee enthusiast and you just need something to give you a morning jolt each day, you decide to by the cheaper coffee maker upon your next visit.

When you come back a few weeks later you notice the manufacturers have created a coffee contraption it calls La machine à café français, (the French coffee maker) and the price is $250. I mean, everything in France is supposed to taste better, right?

Now your’e stuck with three coffee machine options, and you decide the $100 product isn’t that bad compared to the $250 French coffee maker. So you buy it – and guess what – you’ve just been swindelled.

According to Saka, the $250 coffee maker would be what’s called a "premium loss leader" since manufactures already expected not to make a profit with the costlier machine.

See, it’s all a trick to get you to buy the medium priced coffee maker that you thought was way too expensive just two weeks prior. It’s Pretty sneaky, huh ?

Dont get me wrong, there are millions of reasons why consumers buy expensive products, and having low self-esteem and being duped by manufactures with framing schemes are just among two of them, but a very popular two reasons they are.

Limit yourself

A good way to stop impulse spending according to financial experts is by limiting yourself on the amount of store deals you’ll take advantage of.

Every brick-and-mortar along with every online retail store has some sort of sale, deal, special, or low-price offer to get you to buy a product directly on the spot. Simply put, you don’t have to take advantage of all of them.

Also, be sure to carry a set amount of spending cash and leave the credit and debit cards at home, experts say. This technique will also weaken impulses to purchase items you may not really need or even want.

Of course these are just some of the suggestions from experts, but I would say common sense  supersedes both of these rules. If you can’t afford it leave it alone and think of the financial reprucussions you’ll have to face in the weeks and months to follow.

It’s like anything else you do on impulse, like eating an unhealthy meal for example. It’s tasty and satisfying at first, but afterwards, the feelings of ‘why did I do that’, overtake that feeling of satisfaction.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Fed's Open Market Committee announced Thursday that the Fed will begin a new round of stimulus to boost the economy.

The program of bond purchases is called Quantitative Easing, and since this will be the third round, it's called QE3 for short. Maybe you think it's all about Wall Street but actually consumers will feel the effects. Some, hopefully, will be positive. Others are not likely to be so positive.

In his news conference following the announcement, Bernanke took pains to point out that the Fed is not “printing money” or adding to the deficit when it undertakes its campaign to purchase hundreds of billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities. But the markets, unfortunately, see it differently.

Immediate impact

Just as soon as the announcement was made Thursday the U.S. dollar began to fall against the yen and the euro. So the effect of QE3 is to make your money worth less. That means that commodities that are priced in dollars suddenly cost more.

True to form, the price of gold began moving higher just as soon as the dollar started moving lower. You can also expect oil prices to go up, and along with them gasoline prices. Food will also probably cost more in the weeks ahead.

But if the plan works, there should be some positive results from QE3. For starters, Bernanke and company are committing themselves to buy mortgage-backed securities and keep buying them, even if the economy starts to improve.

Even cheaper mortgages

That should have the effect of making long-term interest rates – including mortgages – cheaper. Mortgage rates are already near historic lows so it's hard to see how lowering them a few more basis points is going to make much difference, but the Fed is banking on lenders beginning to make it a little easier for credit-worthy home buyers to qualify for a mortgage. If that happens, a robust housing recovery could significantly boost the economy.

Driving down interest rates is also aimed at reducing unemployment. Businesses have been reluctant to hire employees since the recession because there simply hasn't been enough demand for their products and services.

The Fed is hoping that its announced commitment to rock-bottom interest rates will change that mindset, causing businesses to be more optimistic and to begin to expand. If that happens, the unemployment rate should begin to drop and, as more people go back to work, the economy will get stronger.

Just when you think a chronic illness has been permanently defeated, it sometimes creeps back up. For example, take whooping cough or pertussis, as it’s otherwise known.

This year alone over 21,000 cases of the sickness have been documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is up from 18,179 cases in 2011. In the last two years nearly 25 children, in some cases babies younger than 1 years of age, have died from whooping cough.

You may ask why the disease has come back with such a vengeance?

According to a study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the vaccine for pertussis tends to weaken over time, losing its ability to combat the disease effectively.

Protection wanes

“During the five years after the last dose of vaccine, protection from the disease wanes substantially each year, said Dr. Nicola Klein, co-director of Kaiser’s Vaccine Study Center, and lead author of the report.

“If we estimate that after the fifth dose of vaccine, protection is at 95 percent, protection would decrease to 71 percent after five years. A large part of the reason the epidemics have been occurring here and in other states around the country has to do with this waning immunity in this school-aged population,” she said.

Tom Clark, who is an epidemiologist with the CDC, also revealed other important truths about whooping cough. One: The disease actually never went away, it’s just been somewhat contained compared to many years ago. Two: No one -- especially parents -- should use this particular study as an excuse not to get their children vaccinated, as it’s still our best form of protection against the pertussis disease.

“We want to make sure parents understand that even though the protection wears off more quickly, the vaccine shouldn’t be misconstrued as not being protective,” said Clark. “Pertussis never went away, and it’s back now with a vengeance. And this vaccine protects against severe disease and its complications.”

Pertussis infections usually linger somewhere between one and six weeks, says the CDC, but can also stretch on for longer periods of time. The government agency also states that 50 percent of infants who are younger than one years old and develop whooping cough have to be hospitalized.

The CDC also says that infants should be vaccinated with what’s known as DTaP, and adults, teens and preteens should be protected with what’s known as Tdap.

Weakens over time

Although these vaccines are still considered the first line of defense against whooping cough, scientists have known for quite some time that effectiveness does in fact weaken over time.

This truth was confirmed after Klein and her research team studied the previous findings of two groups of children who both received full whooping cough vaccinations. They first examined 277 children between 4 and 12 years of age with pertussis, and also studied 3,318 children who didn’t have the disease.

Klein and her research team found that 4.5 percent of the 6-year olds who were studied had whooping cough, along with 12.2 percent of the 8-year olds and 18.5 percent of the 10-year olds.

 The research determined that children who didn’t have the disease received their vaccination on a more recent date, confirming the potency of the vaccination diminishes over time. The findings also explained why a higher percentage of the older kids who were studied had pertussis.

According to the CDC, DTaP should be given to children at 2-months of age up until the age of 6. If children haven’t been immunized by age-7, they should receive Tdap, and doses of the vaccine differs depending on how consistent your child has been protected since infancy.  

“In conclusion, our evaluation of data from a large pertussis outbreak in California showed that protection from disease after a fifth dose of DTaP among children who had received only DTaP vaccines was relatively short-lived and waned substantially each year, wrote Klein and her research team. “Our findings highlight the need to develop new pertussis-containing vaccines that will provide long-lasting immunity.”

When your cable goes out for a few hours, your cable company doesn't adjust your bill. Neither does your cell phone provider.

But GoDaddy.com, the web hosting and registrar company that suffered a six hour outage on Monday, is compensating its millions of customers, who received an email from company CEO Scott Wagner.

“We owe you a big apology for the intermittent service outages we experienced on September 10 that may have impacted your website, your email and other Go Daddy services,” Wagner said in his message. “We let you down and we know it. We take our responsibilities — and the trust you place in us — very seriously. I cannot express how sorry I am to those of you who were inconvenienced.”

To make amends, Wagner said GoDaddy will credit customers for a months worth of service.

“As a result of this disruption, your account will be credited for the value of one month of service for each plan that has at least one active or published site,” Wagner wrote. This credit will be available to you for the next seven days.”

The email directs customers  to click a link to redeem credits.

The company says the service outage was due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables, disputing claims by a hacker that he was responsible. GoDaddy says no sensitive customer information was compromised as a result of the outage.

Who doesn’t like to pose for a picture now and again?

Sure, very few of us are models or anything like that, but it’s pretty painless to just stand still and say "cheese" for somebody.

But annoyance can set in if someone takes your picture without asking. I mean, it’s your image, right? Shouldn’t you have a say when somebody captures it?

Apparently the folks at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) don’t think so, as the agency has developed a new sophisticated database that will keep millions of photos of both criminals and non-criminals alike.

What’s strange about this new technology is that photos for the database will be comprised of pictures of you walking the street, entering a building, or joining a protest.

Meaning a picture can be taken of you and eventually stored in a law enforcement database, just in case you ever need to be tracked down in the future.

The new technology is called “Next Generation Identification” (NG), and it’s a substantial upgrade to the FBI’s current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), with an added picture taking component, and other new advanced features.

At the moment the IAFIS holds several million fingerprint records, but as early as 2014 NGI will couple each record with a photograph, making even easier to identify someone. Currently the photos being used for the system's testing are from criminal mug shots and other pictures that are taken by of law enforcement.

Security cameras

However, NGI will eventually allow law enforcement to submit public security camera photos into the national database, whether you were ever a criminal or not. Photos taken from private security cameras will also be used for database submission, according to a 2008 Privacy Impact Assessment.

In theory, this will help law enforcement track people if necessary, while making it much easier to do so. So whether you’re involved in a crime or not, there’s a good chance your mug will be residing in a database by 2014, which would be accessible to every level of law enforcement.

NGI will also include other methods of multimodal biometrics to identify a person easier such as, documenting your specific facial characteristics, scanning your retina, and capturing your voice. We previously ran a story about a new version of public cameras that can capture your conversation in public, just in case you were wondering how on earth law enforcement could get your voice without your knowledge or consent.

The NGI system has already been used in a pilot program in a few U.S. cities, and is expected to be fully implemented in just two short years throughout the country. Privacy groups have been keeping a close eye on the program and have already expressed concern over its level of invasiveness.

For the pilot program the FBI says they’ve been testing the system with current mug shots of criminals and have to abide by a strict set of rules before accessing each photo.

Whether this same set of rules will apply when non-criminal photos are stored in the database remains to be seen.

“Pilot participants are informed that information derived from pilot search requests and resulting responses is to be used only as an investigative lead,” said Jerome Pender of the FBI to the Senate. “Results are not to be considered as positive identifications,” he said.

Fingerprints affected

The NGI technology will also affect the current fingerprint system by making photos a part of the background-checking process. For example, teachers typically have to submit a set of fingerprints to their local Board of Education before they're hired, and soon they’ll probably have to submit a photo as well.

Sure, it's not the worst thing in the world one has to do, but it is kind of creepy knowing your picture can already be in a national database next to criminals, and the photo you’re submitting for your job is merely for confirmation purposes.

The FBI also says it will use two separate databases to differentiate non-criminal and criminal information, but that hasn’t made privacy groups exhale much at all. The whole security upgrade has cost around $1 billion to complete, and theoretically it will assist in not only domestic crime solving, but international crimes as well.

Some would say if you’ve done nothing wrong, you really shouldn’t mind having your photo in a database. But shouldn’t you have say on whether your picture is taken or not?

You could almost compare it to a stranger coming up to you on the street and snapping your photo without asking. It’s kind of the same thing, and most of us don’t like that.

A West Virginia court has ruled that California-based CashCall must pay $15 million in civil penalties, refunds, and cancelled debts for the 292 West Virginia consumers who obtained the loans and to the State.

The ruling came in a suit filed by West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw, who claimed CashCall entered into a "sham" relationship with the First Bank & Trust of Milbank, South Dakota, for the purpose of using the bank’s charter to evade the State’s usury laws.

McGraw argued that although the loans obtained by West Virginia consumers were made to appear as if they were issued by the South Dakota Bank, in fact, CashCall was the "true lender" because it bore the entire economic risk of the loans. The court agreed.

McGraw’s suit also claimed that CashCall engaged in abusive debt collection practices, violating any number of consumer protection laws. The complaint says CashCall harassed debtors with up to 25 telephone calls a day, sometimes disclosing alleged debts to various third parties, including friends, family members, co-workers, and persons that consumers listed as "references" on their loan applications.

Complaints

Complaints to ConsumerAffairs about CashCall have reflected similar charges.

“Their employees and even supervisors are unaware of company policies and procedures and will call and harass you to death even after you make a payment because their system has to play catch-up,” Ticondria, of Palm City, FL, wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “I even made payment arrangements to change my payment date. The representatives never note accounts correctly.”

“I paid off my loan in full with Cash Call and they took an additional payment from my account,” wrote Linda, of Temecula, CA. “They acknowledge the error, but haven't return my funds and refuse to return my calls.”

Embarrassment and humiliation

McGraw’s suit also alleged that CashCall repeatedly contacted consumers at work, subjecting them to embarrassment and humiliation before their co-workers, after consumers had asked that such calls stop.

McGraw says the his case could well have national implications.

"I am proud of my Consumer Protection staff for making West Virginia the only state to successfully challenge CashCall’s 'sham' business model that was designed to evade laws intended to protect West Virginia consumers from excessive interest rates,” McGraw said.

A transient ischemic attack, TIA or a "mini stroke," can lead to serious disability, but is frequently deemed by doctors too mild to treat, according to a study in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. 

"Our study shows that TIA and minor stroke patients are at significant risk of disability and need early assessment and treatment," said Shelagh Coutts, M.D., lead author of the study at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. "We should be imaging patients earlier and be more aggressive in treating patients with thrombolysis if we can see a blockage no matter how minor the symptoms are." 

Thrombolysis is a treatment used to dissolve dangerous clots and restore healthy blood flow to the brain. TIA and minor stroke patients don't typically receive this treatment because the condition is frequently not deemed serious enough to warrant it, researchers said. 

After-effects reported 

Among the 499 patients studied, 15 percent had at least minor disability 90 days after their original "mini stroke." Minor disability was defined as being unable to carry out previous activities, but capable of and handling personal affairs without assistance. 

Computed tomography (CT) scans showed some "mini stroke" patients had narrowed blood vessels in the brain, and others reported continuing or worsening symptoms. Those patients were more than twice as likely to have disability at 90 days. Coutts suggests that thrombolysis treatment should be considered in these patients. 

Patients with type 2 diabetes had a similarly high risk of disability. Also, women were nearly twice as likely as men to be disabled 90 days after TIA. 

Time is critical 

"For every second after a mini stroke, the patient's brain may be losing oxygen -- possibly leading to a major event," Coutts said. "If a scan finds that you have a narrowing of a blood vessel in or outside of the brain, you are at a high risk of being disabled." 

Recurrent strokes posed the greatest threat to patients. Of those who had recurrent strokes, 53 percent were disabled, compared with 12 percent of patients without a recurrent stroke. 

In 2009, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recommended immediate action and thorough testing for TIA -- much like the exams performed after a full-blown stroke. These exams can show blockage in a brain blood vessel, which can increase patients' risk of a subsequent, more serious event. 

"The symptoms of a TIA -- abrupt onset of inability to move one side of your body, numbness on one side, dizziness and trouble walking -- may pass quickly," Coutts said. "But, if you experience them, you should immediately go to the hospital, where proper scans can be done. Based on these results we have started a trial in Canada giving clot-busting drugs to patients with mild symptoms, but blocked blood vessels in the brain. 

"If ignored, these symptoms can lead to death. This is not a benign disease."