Current Events in November 2013

Battery-powered electric cars are being heralded as the clean-air, carbon-neutral future, but there are some big obstacles, including range anxiety, high cost and the often-ignored fact that the generation of electricity is not always an environmentally-friendly process.

Hyundai is promoting its hydrogen-powered vehicle as a much better answer. The third-generation Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) does away with heavy batteries, can go as far as 300 miles between fuelings and never needs to be plugged in.

The Tucson crossover uses fuel-cell power from compressed hydrogen to generate its own electricity and power an electric motor. The FCEV Tucson performs at a range equal to gasoline-powered vehicles and does so with an energy source that is not only renewable but also far safer than gasoline, according to Hyundai.

Production of the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell began at the company’s Ulsan manufacturing plant in Korea in January 2013, making Hyundai the first automaker to begin commercial production of a hydrogen-powered vehicle. The first complete car rolled off the assembly line on February 26, 2013.

The company is planning a roll-out of the cars next year in California, which has been actively encouraging construction of refueling stations.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) in August awarded Hydrogen Frontier, Inc. a $3 million grant to build a new 100 percent renewable hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell electric vehicles at Hyundai’s hydrogen energy generation and fueling station in Chino, Calif. The station is supposed to open to the public by October 2014, joining the eight public stations open today and 17 more that are in development. The goal is to have 68 stations in place to support the larger rollout of the vehicles in the next few years.

“Hyundai has been supporting governments, energy companies and other organizations globally to develop an easily accessible and affordable hydrogen infrastructure,” said Dr. Sung Hwan Cho, president, Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. “With world-class partners like Hydrogen Frontier and the support of the California government, we are expanding the hydrogen fueling infrastructure and taking one more step toward mass production of a fuel cell electric vehicle.”

Hydrogen fuel cells use hydrogen to create electricity which powers the electric-drive vehicles. Fuel cell vehicles have no tailpipe greenhouse emissions and their range between fill-ups and the speed at which they refuel are comparable to that of conventional vehicles. The development of fueling stations, such as the Chino facility, is crucial to the success of fuel cells in the marketplace. 

Batteries: yesterday's news?

As anyone with a smartphone knows, lithium ion batteries -- the kind used in most electric vehicles -- can be troublesome. Charging is time-consuming and the batteries have an unfortunate tendency to overheat, occasionally starting fires.

They're also expensive, which limits automakers' profits and makes electric vehicles so expensive that government subsidies are required to move them off dealer lots. So far, no one has found a way to reduce the cost of the batteries used in cars and the search for economies of scale hasn't produced any answers, Kwon Moon-sik, Hyundai Motor Group's president of R&D, said at a recent conference.

"There is no problem with the technology -- only with the cost and profitability," Kwon said of battery EVs, according to Automotive News. "We cannot make a profit with them."

Other automakers are still in the research phase and several have formed partnerships to spread the development costs, but Hyundai is going it alone for now, hoping to build demand for the technology and thereby spark development of more fuel station networks.

Feds get on board

The federal government initially shunned fuel cell technology in favor of batteries, but in May launched H2USA, a public-private partnership with Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Toyota to promote hydrogen refueling infrastructure.

H2USA will bring experts together to solve key infrastructure challenges, including leveraging low-cost natural gas resources. Through the program, industry and government partners will identify actions to encourage early adopters of fuel cell electric vehicles, conduct coordinated technical and market analysis, and evaluate alternative fueling infrastructure that can enable cost reductions and economies of scale.

“Fuel cell technologies are an important part of an all-of-the-above approach to diversify America’s transportation sector, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and increase our competitiveness in the global market,” said assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, David Danielson in the Energy Department’s press release. “By bringing together key stakeholders from across the U.S. fuel cell and hydrogen industry, the H2USA partnership will help advance affordable fuel cell electric vehicles that save consumers money and give drivers more options.”

“Hyundai’s Tucson Fuel Cell program is an integral part of our plan to develop low-carbon, fuel-efficient vehicles that minimize fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” said Gil Castillo, senior group manager, alternative vehicle strategy, Hyundai Motor America. “Our partnership with the Energy Department and H2USA is another way Hyundai is striving to meet the critical social needs for both mobility and environmental preservation.”

Hey guys, just because that nail gun is quick and easy to use doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention. Researchers in Australia say there's been an increase in the frequency of injuries to nail gun users, both those in the workplace and at home.

Young males in the work environment are at greatest risk of sustaining a nail gun injury to their non-dominant hand, a new study found. The researchers said nail guns are commonly used in the building and construction industry because they increase productivity and are technically easy to operate.

A previous study showed a three times increase in consumer-related nail gun injuries from 1991 to 2005, which coincided with the availability of pneumatic nail guns to the general public. In the present study, only four cases (4.6%) were sustained in a non-work-related setting.

"Whilst nail gun injuries involving the skull, chest and abdomen have been reported, the vast majority of injuries occur to the upper and lower limbs," according to the study published in Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also found that most nail gun injuries occur to the hands and arms. 

Nail gun injuries result in a significant loss of productivity, as well as having a significant financial cost. Information obtained from the Queensland Employee Injury Data Base shows an average of 81 workers' compensation claims for nail gun injuries each year over the past five years in Queensland.

Each case subsequently resulted in an average of 15 days off work.

Contaminated environment

Nail gun injuries most often occur in a contaminated environment and each nail can contain metal barbs or may be coated with polymer or plastic which can become embedded in the wound.

Also, the nail may potentially be discharged into the body with a significant kinetic energy causing marked soft tissue damage. Potential complications of nail gun injuries are direct damage to soft tissues, tendons, and bones and can result in infections and septic arthritis.

Out of 87 cases identified in this study, which was conducted between January 2007 and July 2012, 58% underwent surgery, 32% were treated solely in the emergency department, and 10% were transferred to a private facility.

At the time of operation, 14% of cases had tendon, joint or neurovascular involvement and 20% had retained foreign material.

The researchers said surgery for such injuries is generally short and safe, involving removal of embedded material, repair of structural damage and a sterile washout.

What to do

The CDC offers these tips to prevent injury:

1. Use full sequential trigger nail guns;
2. Provide training;
3. Establish nail gun work procedures;
4. Provide personal protective equipment (PPE);
5. Encourage reporting and discussion of injuries and close calls; and
6. Provide first aid and medical treatment.

Federal safety investigators are taking a close look at late model Volkswagen Tiguans, responding to more than 60,000 consumer complaints about the headlights going out.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the complaints center on 2009 to 2011 models, with drivers complaining the exterior lights – mostly headlights – have failed. The agency said it received a handful of complaints from drivers who said they lost power in all their exterior lights.

The agency said the initial reports indicate that the problem gets progressively worse. When troubleshooting the problem, mechanics have reported finding melted fuses in the fuse box located in the engine compartment.

Other VW complaints

Consumers posting at ConsumerAffairs.com in recent months have also reported lighting issues on other Volkswagen models.

L.H., a reader in Capetown, South Africa, reports a number of issues with his new VW Beetle, starting with a fault in the sunroof.

“Now the headlights don't work either, and I am unable to drive after dark or in bad weather,” L.H. wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post.

Doreen, of Chicago, says she has a 2007 Passat she bought used, with only 35,000 miles, in 2010. Since then, she reports a number of issues – some expensive, like an air conditioner compressor – and some minor, like windshield wipers that quit working.

'Headlights constantly need replacing'

“Obviously, I have an electrical problem because my headlights constantly need replacing and magically work after several days or hours,” she writes.

Kate, of Raleigh, N.C., sent us a list of reasons she “hates her 2007 Beetle.” Number four on her list mentions headlights.

“At least one headlight burns out every six months,” she writes. “The cost to have it replaced ranges from $60 to $80. The whole headlight assembly has to be removed to replace the light. Recently, both headlights burned out within two weeks. I realized it when I drove onto the interstate at night and couldn't see a thing. Scary.”

It's worth pointing out that these complaints come from Beetle and Passat drivers. To date, we haven't heard from any Tiguan owners reporting a problem with headlights. NHTSA said it is just beginning its probe and couldn't say whether it might lead to a recall.

Some vegetable oils that claim to be healthy may actually increase the risk of heart disease, and health regulators should reconsider cholesterol-lowering claims on food labeling, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Replacing saturated animal fats with polyunsaturated vegetable oils has become common practice because they can reduce cholesterol levels and help prevent heart disease. In 2009, Health Canada's Food Directorate, after reviewing published evidence, approved a request from the food industry to apply a heart disease risk reduction claim on vegetable oils and foods containing these oils. The label suggests "a reduced risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels."

But that may not be true of all vegetable oils, the researchers found.

"Careful evaluation of recent evidence, however, suggests that allowing a health claim for vegetable oils rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but relatively poor in omega-3 α-linolenic acid may not be warranted," write Drs. Richard Bazinet, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto and Michael Chu, Lawson Health Research Institute and Division of Cardiac Surgery, Western University, London, Ontario.

Corn, safflower oil

Corn and safflower oil, which are rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but contain almost no omega-3 α-linolenic acid, are not associated with beneficial effects on heart health according to recent evidence.

The authors cite a study published earlier this year in February 2013 "… in which the intervention group replaced saturated fat with sources of safflower oil or safflower oil margarine (rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but low in omega-3 α-linoleic acid). They found that the intervention group had serum cholesterol levels that were significantly decreased (by about 8%-13%) relative to baseline and the control group, which is consistent with the health claim." However, rates of death from all causes of cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease significantly increased in the treatment group.

In Canada, omega-6 linoleic acid is found in corn and safflower oils as well as foods such as mayonnaise, margarine, chips and nuts. Canola and soybean oils, which contain both linoleic and α-linolenic acids, are the most common forms of oil in the Canadian diet. "… it is unclear whether oils rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but low in omega-3 α-linolenic acid also reduce this risk. We suggest that the health claim be modified such that foods rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but poor in omega-3 α-linolenic acid be excluded," conclude the authors.

Chrysler Group LLC is recalling 36,710 model year 2008-2012 RAM 4500 and 5500 trucks manufactured February 20, 2007, through December 22, 2012.

The left tie rod assembly may break. A failure of the tie rod assembly may result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will install a new left tie rod assembly, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in December 2013.

Owners may contact Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753. Chrysler's recall campaign number is N63.

Garden-Fresh Foods is expanding its previous recalls of fresh cut vegetables, ready-to-eat salads, slaws, dips and spreads sold under various brands and code dates manufactured prior to November 06, 2013. All packaging types and sizes are included.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The company has not received reports of illnesses due to consumption of these products.

The products were sold nationwide to retail stores, restaurants and institutions. Garden-Fresh Foods Inc. is concerned that expired product may be frozen in consumer homes. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-645-3367 Monday through Friday between the hours 8:00AM - 4:30 PM.

Products included in this recall are:

Of all recent articles we’ve published, none inspired more reader response than “Homeowners associations: government minus the checks and balances.” Ordinarily, we love it when readers write us to say “Great story; great job!”—but this week, we were dismayed by the number of people from all over America who wrote us to commiserate: “Yeah, my HOA is just as bad. Maybe worse.”

We mentioned three bad-HOA stories culled at random from the previous week’s headlines: in Las Vegas, the Harbor Cove Homeowners Association had to pay $65,000 to the family of a disabled Harbor Cove man — the family kept an ambulance parked in their driveway to transport their son to his medical appointments, but the HOA board wanted them to ditch the ambulance and refused to back down until the federal government got involved and reminded the HOA that disabled Americans have rights, too.

In Austin, Texas, an HOA is in hot water with the city after erecting a fence preventing a blind resident from getting to a nearby bus stop. And in Glen Haven, Colorado, residents of The Retreat at Glen Haven have been homeless for two months after floods washed out the one HOA-owned road leading to their development — and the HOA board refused to make a deal with a nearby cattle rancher who offered to let people drive home to their HOA over her property.

Nothing unique about these stories, alas; just a random week's sampling of bad-HOA headlines. And for every bad HOA story reported by the media, there’s countless more you never heard about — but we heard some, after readers wrote us this week.

Locked up

Our editor chimed in with a story of his own. Years ago, he said, he bought a condominium in a large development in Reston, Va. There were odd goings-on with the monthly condo fees -- "lost" checks and the like. Maintenance also seemed to be slipping.

Finally, a letter from a law firm arrived in every occupant's mailbox. Written in the most obtuse legalese possible, it advised condo owners that the officers and board of directors would no longer be able to fulfill their obligations, "owing to their being incarcerated," as the letter put it. Yes, the entire board had been locked up for pilfering.

New board members were duly elected. Our editor has since moved to a neighborhood with an inactive HOA. He reports there was a near-uprising when a group of civic-minded homeowners tried to resurrect it.

There are many other stories. Jonathan F. wrote us to say: “I live in Las Vegas and own the web site Hoacorruption.com. My own experiences living in — or should I say fighting with — the Rancho Bel Air HOA has been both costly and emotionally draining.”

Like Harbor Cove, Jonathan’s HOA apparently can’t understand laws forbidding discrimination against the disabled: “The issues [with the HOA] have been many and my ‘wins’ few. One of the ‘wins’ was a fight with the Board over providing an Assisted Hearing Device that HUD had to step in to make the board provide so I could hear what was being said at meetings.”

What else? “The Association's manager violated state law by not holding a budget ratification meeting. The Board spent about $68,000 in legal fees, arbitrators fees and court costs fighting this issue. Both an arbitrator and a state judge ruled against me only to have the Nevada Real Estate Division agree with me in the end and confirmed that the association had indeed violated state law …. It costs a lot of money to stand up for what you feel is right when you live under a totalitarian form of government known as an HOA with … ‘no checks & balances’.”

When you win, you lose

Jonathan is right; it does indeed cost a lot of money to fight an HOA. Even if you win, the money isn’t paid out of the pockets of the idiotic HOA board members who (for example) try banning ambulances for the disabled or hearing aids for the deaf; the money comes from the fees HOAs levy against their residents. Even when you win, you lose.

Melody B. from Pennsylvania also regrets buying into an HOA community. She wrote us to say “I just wanted to share with you about the HOA I was swindled into 5 years ago and it has been hell and a web of lies and deceit, ever since.”

For the first two years, everything seemed fine. New homes were still being built and sold, and “there were no meetings or budgets or assessments, so I knew that the new development was still being sold. That paperwork I got with the bylaws and covenants clearly stated I was not going to be responsible for paying dues until the new community was complete.”

Suddenly, everything changed. “The 3rd year ... I got slammed with a bill for $500.  A lot of outrage from homeowners occurred and I certainly did not get all the answers I needed, because it was a scam job and then the multitude of cover-ups began. Right down to the financial records.  The HOA reduced it to $350 and the budget was $108,000 for a development with just grass and sidewalks.  I was really suspicious, being an accounting career person of 30 years.”

Melody started asking questions, hoping to determine why such bills were being levied and where the money was going, but had no luck. “I tried to get answers on the amount of people in this community and how many [houses] were completed.  I never got a definite answer.  I started requesting financial information and was being denied right down to the ‘roster’ which the law says I am entitled to.”

Digging deeper

When Melody started digging deeper, she said, she found all sorts of suspicious things in the paperwork: sloppy record-keeping at best, altered documents and account numbers at worst. She told us, “I have proof for everything, reports from abstract companies, forensic document examiners, CPAs, and the documents speak for itself. And if all that was not bad enough, I was told to shut the ‘F’ up at the annual meeting.  I am now going to court, to be heard in front of a judge.”

If even a quarter of Melody’s allegations against the HOA are true, the HOA is sure to lose – just as various HOAs in Las Vegas lost their attempts to discriminate against disabled residents. In all such cases, it would be much cheaper for the HOAs to simply do the right thing right away, rather than spend years on costly legal battles until the courts force them to do the right thing.

Melody eventually concluded: “HOAs are not about pink doors and purple pansies that are not allowed.  It is about money, lawyers and property thefts. It is about lies and deceit to get innocent people to buy these properties.  It is about the collusion and schemes that HOAs bring to world of extortion. PAY UP whether you owe it or not or I will steal your house.”

That last line wasn’t an exaggeration; HOAs can and do put liens on residents’ homes should residents violate the HOA bylaws – even asinine, illegal bylaws like “No keeping an ambulance in your driveway just because your disabled son needs it.”

What to do

So if you’re stuck in a miserable HOA, what can you do? The pat answer is “Get involved! Go to homeowner meetings! Make your voice heard!” But that’s not always possible. Maybe you have a full-time job, and the HOA board consists of retirees who meet during weekday business hours when employed residents can’t make it.

We asked Melody when her HOA board holds its meetings, and she said “They have only one meeting that we are entitled to go to and it is in October of each year.  They have these unannounced sporadic board meetings. You know, I did notice they started to label after-the-fact minutes of the meetings as homeowner meeting instead of board meetings, but how can they have these types of meetings but never announce the time and place?”

Easily, it seems. There’s an old political joke which is almost as old as America itself: “If you want to be the president of the USA, that proves you’re too crazy to be trusted with the job.” We suspect a similar principle applies to HOA board members: “If you want to spend your free time crafting bylaws regarding what color your neighbors paint their houses, what flowers they plant in their yards or what vehicle-types they park in their driveways, that proves you’re too much of a control freak to be trusted with the job.”

If you have an Adobe account, beware: you should change your password and keep a closer-than-usual eye on your credit report and other financial activities.

Last month Adobe admitted it had suffered a major cyber attack that compromised the data of 2.9 million users; in addition to passwords and email information, that compromised data might also have included customers’ debit or credit card information.

It gets worse. Adobe’s initial report of 2.9 million compromised data accounts was bad enough, but three weeks later, on Oct. 29, Adobe revised the estimate upward to 38 million accounts., over 10 times higher than their original number.

Then, on Nov. 4, Paul Ducklin at Sophos’ Naked Security blog reported that data from over 150 million hacked Adobe accounts had appeared online.

Adobe, however, is sticking to its earlier 38 million figure. But tech and computer security journalists everywhere from GeekWire to the Guardian seem to believe Ducklin over Adobe. This is an important point of contention because Adobe said it has sent warning letters to, and arranged credit alerts for, all customers whose data has been compromised—presumably, to 38 million people. But if Ducklin’s is the correct number, that leaves an additional 112 million Adobe customers at risk and unaware of it.

LastPass has created an online tool Adobe customers can use to see if their emails have been compromised—and it’s worth noting that LastPass thus far says it hasn’t noticed any signs of unauthorized activity in any Adobe user’s emails.

We’re not tech-security experts; if you’re a concerned Adobe user, the tech articles we’ve linked to here offer far more specific advice than we can. However, we do have some generalized online security tips that all people, not just Adobe users, should keep in mind.

If a hacker breaches the database of a company that has your personal information, well, there’s really nothing you can do to prevent that. Even adopting a Luddite lifestyle — “I will never ever buy anything, or undergo any financial transaction, online!”— offers no guarantees. (We personally had to put a credit alert on our accounts a few years ago, after somebody working for our state’s tax-collection bureaucracy lost a laptop computer loaded with the names, Social Security numbers and other information about tens of thousands of state taxpayers, including us.)

But what you can do — what you should do — is conduct your online affairs so that the damage from any one company data breach will be limited to your activities with that company.

For example: never use the same password for more than one account. Some people, for simplicity’s sake, like to use a single password for everything: online email, online banking, online shopping, maybe an online chat forum or two. That definitely makes it easier for you to remember your passwords — and also means a hacker who breaches one of your accounts gets access to all of them.

If you only have a few regular online activities, you might also consider opening a separate web-based email account for each one: use this email address to register for Facebook, use that email for shopping at Amazon. (Confession: we don’t strictly follow that advice ourselves, because we have too many online accounts; however, we do limit ourselves to only two or three accounts per email address.)

And every few days or so, you might try typing terms like “hacker” or “compromised data” into an online news search engine, and see what recent stories pop up; if you read the names of companies with whom you have an account, that’s when you know to be extra-vigilant.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hood," said a Lufthansa flight attendant as she bent down over my coach-class seat on a recent trip across the pond.

I was shocked. The last time a flight attendant called me by name was when United threw me off a flight in Denver because the gate agent had given my seat to someone else.

While Lufthansa may be a step ahead in the customer service department, other airlines are closing fast. Soon, the Wall Street Journal reports, flight attendants will know our birthdays, how we like our coffee and whether we're likely to buy anything on board.

Not to mention whether we're likely to drink too much and cause trouble. In that case, maybe we'll get the treatment I received in Denver. (I was sober as the proverbial judge, by the way). 

After all, the airlines already have a lot of this information lurking in their databases. And thanks to such Big Data troves as Experian, it won't be long before they can fill in any blanks that remain.

This could mean that as the flight attendant wanders down the aisle with a tablet computer, he'll have a good idea of what we're likely to want and, perhaps, whether we'll be in a pleasant mood or whether we're the type who writes to ConsumerAffairs after each flight to complain about something.

More significantly, the tablet may have information on our food allergies, medical conditions and disabilities, which could actually be a good thing.

Gut reaction

Unlike some industries, the airlines have been slow to actually put all of this into practice. American Airlines, for example, has until recently had a "gut reaction" that it should protect its customers' privacy.

But now, Maya Leibman, chief technology and information officer for AA, says the carrier is learning to walk the line "between providing excellent customer service and suddenly becoming creepy," the Journal reports.

Allegiant seems to be the carrier that has most enthusiastically embraced all this data. That's at least partly because it's really more of a flying salesroom than transportation company. During its flights to and from Las Vegas, flight attendants pitch everything imaginable, including show tickets and tours. This reliance on in-cabin sales gives it a real incentive to keep track of the big spenders on board.

Do you think the airlines will soon know which passengers are likely to have crying babies with them? 

Google and the NSA, among others, have taken a lot of heat for tracking Americans' activities. Ah, but they're not really able to track every step you take, every move you make, as the old song has it.

So, who can? Why, your cell phone carrier, of course, and it turns out they're doing just that.

Verizon has a new division called Precision Marketing Insights that will initially help sports clubs and venues learn more about their fans by tracking their activities before and after the game.

Do all those ringside ads and promotions on the scoreboards really cause fans to stop off at Pizza King on the way home? Do NASCAR fans stop off at a Sunoco station after a day at the races?

The NBA Phoenix Suns tested the service last season, Ad Age reports today, and the Portland Trail Blazers are said to be thinking about it.

A byproduct

The technology behind this is pretty simple, once you have a massive cellular network in place. As Colson Hillier, VP of Verizon Precision Market Insights, explained it to Ad Age, tracking customers is really just "a byproduct of being a network operator."

That's because, even when you're not using it, your smartphone is constantly pinging the network, letting it know that it's available to take calls and receive text messages. 

"We can tie a device back to the cell towers which it registers against," said Hillier, and that pretty much tells you where each customer is, within a block or two.

While this could be a game-changer for sports teams, it could be an even more effective tool for retailers, as Hillier sees it. "There's no reason a retailer couldn't try to understand what's happening around their location," he said.

It's anonymized

Does this mean Home Depot would know that after you kicked the tires on all those lawn tractors, you ended up buying one at Costco?

Well, as usual, the official answer is no. Verizon says it "anonymizes" the data, scrubbing it of individual identities. However, and it's a fairly big however, it adds in demographic data that it gets from Big Data venders like Experian, so that the behavior patterns of, say, suburban married white males 25-49 with two children, would become evident.

Frequent stops at McDonald's perhaps?

Verizon executives at a recent conference said they had thought through all the privacy issues and didn't find any problems. Besides, they said, the terms and conditions section of their wireless service contracts makes it clear that they're allowed to do this. So, no problem.

Don't like it? Well, your phone has an on-off button.  

As America packs on the pounds and becomes more sedentary, the number of cases of diabetes grows. The disease, a malfunction of the body's ability to process blood sugar, is particularly prevalent among overweight seniors, according to health statistics.

Data from the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet found a total of 25.8 million children and adults in the U.S. – 8.3% of the population – have diabetes. About seven million of those cases remain undiagnosed, making them even more dangerous. 

To understand diabetes and whether you have it, or are at risk, we need to start with the classifications of the disease – Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

In Type 1 diabetes, your body does not produce enough insulin. It needs insulin to break down carbohydrates and fat and regulate your metabolism. People with Type 1 are usually diagnosed as children or young adults and the disease is not preventable. It's also fairly rare, making up only 10% of the diabetes cases in the U.S.

Type 2, on the other hand, is preventable in most cases. In Type 2 diabetes, blood sugar levels are abnormally high, a condition known as hyperglycemia. If you are overweight or obese you have a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, compared to those with a healthy body weight. Not surprisingly, doctors have seen a corresponding rise in Type 2 diabetes with the recent rise in obesity.

Symptoms

How do you know if you have diabetes? The symptoms for the two types vary slightly. According to the Mayo Clinic, those with pre-diabetes or Type 2 may not have any symptoms right away. On the other hand, if you have developed Type 1 diabetes, you'll experience symptoms almost immediately. Symptoms for both types include: 

• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Extreme hunger
• Unexplained weight loss
• Presence of ketones, a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there's not enough insulin, in the urine
• Fatigue
• Blurred vision
• Slow-healing sores
• High blood pressure
• Frequent infections, such as gums or skin infections and vaginal or bladder infections

Seniors at risk

If you are a senior and have put on weight late in life, you may be especially vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes. Though the reasons are unclear, doctors suspect that the combination of adding body weight while decreasing physical activity in old age is a major catalyst. Men whose testosterone levels fall as they age may also be at higher risk, since some research suggests low testosterone levels are linked to insulin resistance.

People with diabetes, either Type 1 or Type 2, typically manage their disease with insulin, a nutritious diet and regular physical activity. Type 2 patients may be able to avoid insulin – at least in the beginning – by following a healthy lifestyle. However, Type 2 is a progressive disease that, over time, usually gets worse.

Toby Smithson, a nutritionist and author of the book “Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition for Dummies, says proper meal planning is a simple way patients can gain influence over the potentially harmful influence of food.

"People with diabetes want to stay healthy, but we are constantly surrounded by images of food, messages about food, and food itself,” Smithson said. “Your amazing brain can make the best food choices for your health if you give it the facts and some quiet time to come to a conclusion. But, wander aimlessly through the grocery or start down a buffet line with an empty plate and impulse wins every time. Planning ahead is the secret to healthy eating and diabetes health."

In a new report, AARP has found a surge in scams in New York City directed at senior citizens. Not only are the numbers up, the AARP report estimates that one third of elderly fraud victims don't report the crimes.

"Scam artists and fraudsters in New York City looking for their next victims have their craft honed down to a science," said Beth Finkel, State Director for AARP in New York.

Law enforcement has known for a long time that criminals usually prefer seniors as their victims, especially for economic crimes. Seniors are likely to have money tucked away. They probably own their home, or have lots of equity in it and have excellent credit.

Seniors are less likely to hang up on an unscrupulous telemarketer. Growing up in a different era, they are less wise to the ways of the world and more polite and trusting.

Unreported crimes

According to the FBI, older consumers are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed. Seniors might also be reluctant to report scams because they are concerned their relatives may think the victims no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.

When seniors do report scams, the FBI says they sometimes make poor witnesses. The scammers know the effects of age on memory and are counting on elderly victims not being able to supply enough detailed information to investigators. It may also take them longer than younger victims to realize they have been scammed.

According to the FBI, seniors are often targeted with healthcare scams, sold counterfeit drugs, talked into expensive funeral prepayments, and sold bogus anti-aging potions and other useless products. In recent years, because of their usually high credit scores, they have been targeted by identity thieves.

Reverse mortgage scams

The FBI and other government agencies have urged seniors to be especially vigilant when considering reverse mortgage products. Reverse mortgages, also known as home equity conversion mortgages (HECM), have increased more than 1,300 percent between 1999 and 2008, creating significant opportunities for fraud perpetrators.

In many of these scams, victimized seniors are offered free homes, investment opportunities, and foreclosure or refinance assistance. They are also used as straw buyers in property-flipping scams. Seniors are frequently targeted through local churches and investment seminars, as well as television, radio, billboard, and mailer advertisements.

A legitimate HECM loan product is insured by the Federal Housing Authority. It enables eligible homeowners to access the equity in their homes by providing funds without incurring a monthly payment. Eligible borrowers must be 62 years or older who occupy their property as their primary residence and who own their property or have a small mortgage balance.

Depth of the problem

In the AARP survey, 29% of New York City residents 50 or older said they or someone they know has been the target of fraud or a scam. Broken down by age, 32% of 50 to 64-year-olds say they or someone they know have been a target or victim, five percent higher than those 65 and older. However, older seniors have a much higher rate of letting the scam go unreported, with 37% not reporting them, compared to 26% of 50- to 64-year-olds.

In New York the most common senior-directed scam in Queens involved credit cards. In the Bronx and Brooklyn, identity theft was the most common scam. In Manhattan, investment fraud and check-cashing schemes were the most common scams.

AARP says seniors and their younger family members could help reduce scams by working together.

"Younger people are more likely to see an older relative or friend be targeted or become a victim of a scam in New York City and report it, but older individuals are often worried about speaking up. Sometimes, they're embarrassed," said Finkel.

But Finkel says younger family members should explain to senior family members that they can help prevent other seniors from becoming victims if they speak up.  

The digital shopping route appears to be the way many consumers will take when it comes to gift-buying this holiday season, while others will patronize local small businesses.

According to Deloitte's 28th annual survey of holiday spending intentions and trends, the fact that smartphone ownership has risen to 61% of respondents from 42% just two years ago suggests consumers will rely heavily on digital bargain hunting.

Women, younger generations and households earning less than $100,000 annually showed the most significant leaps in smartphone ownership, expanding the base of shoppers that retailers can access via mobile devices. For example, nearly six in 10 (59%) of women surveyed own smartphones, up 13% from last year, and 79% of consumers ages 18-24 own a smartphone.

Smartphones and tablets

Among smartphone owners, nearly seven in 10 (68%) plan to use their devices for holiday shopping. These consumers will primarily use smartphones to search for store locations (56%), check and compare prices (54%) and obtain product information (47%).

Consumers that use smartphones to assist in holiday shopping will likely help retailers' registers jingle this year, as these shoppers plan to spend 27% more on holiday gifts than non-smartphone owners.

The survey also found a significant number of consumers expecting to shop using their tablets. Among the 38 percent of respondents that own tablets, nearly two-thirds (63%) indicate they plan to use it for holiday shopping this year, with "shop or browse online" ranking as the No. 1 activity.

"Tablets are a two-way street for retailers," said Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP, and retail & distribution sector leader. "They have opened up an entirely new consumer touchpoint, where shoppers can view multiple retailers' products regardless of their location -- from their couch to the point of purchase. Retailers can also put tablets to work in their stores, providing both their sales team and customers with a broader lens into merchandise selection. Now that the majority of consumers also own smartphones, these two devices have altered the way they interact with a brand, while also yielding a higher spend per customer."

Close to home

This year, two-thirds (66%) of shoppers plan to shop locally at small businesses, independent retailers or boutique shops which are not part of national chains.

The survey indicates that one-third (34%) of consumers' budgets will be spent at local stores. Among the reasons for shopping locally, consumers cite desire to support the local economy (60%), to find one-of-a-kind gifts (53%) and because it is more convenient (44%). Nearly one-third (30% report having greater loyalty for the local store over national chains.

Stores still in the running

While the Internet ranks as the top shopping destination for the 2013 holiday season, 37% of respondents still prefer shopping in a physical store rather than online for holiday products. Service levels continue to influence respondents' willingness to give a retailer their business.

More than half (54%) of shoppers say that knowledgeable store associates will lead them to making an in-store purchase, and 32% feel store associates can provide customers a better shopping experience when equipped with the latest mobile technologies. Yet, nearly six in 10 (59%) shoppers feel they are better connected to consumer information, including coupons, competitive pricing and product availability, than store associates.

"In the store, retail associates can be engaged to drive loyalty rather than just complete a transaction," Paul noted. "The most successful retailers are empowering their associates to become devoted brand advocates who are knowledgeable, connected online, have the authority to price match and are aware of products available through other channels."

Retailers also benefit from providing shoppers with self-help technology in the store. Nearly six in 10 (58%) of shoppers will use self-help technologies -- the most common being price checkers (60%) and self-checkout payment lanes (57%).

It used to be that publishers, broadcasters and websites captured audiences, then conducted research to get a rough picture of who was in that audience so they could go sell ads to the most suitable brands.

That still happens, of course, but the brands increasingly have access to even more data than the publishers, thanks to Big Data, the databases in the cloud that sift, winnow and stir the billions of bits that fly their way from all kinds of sources -- including retail purchases, loyalty club data, web browsing info and the information that we all willingly provide every time we fill out a form.

Everybody makes a lot of money on this, so everything is just ducky, right?

Well, actually, not everybody is making money on it. Consumers, the fount from which all blessings flow, are lucky to get a "Hey thanks" for giving up all this actionable data about themselves.

But that's changing. Consumers understand the value of their data and they damned well expect to be paid for providing it, a Microsoft executive cautioned at a recent New York conference.

In fact, 59% of people say they are more likely to buy from a brand that rewards them for their information, according to Microsoft’s latest Digital Trends study, which relied on a global survey of some 8,000 consumers, said Rick Chavez, general manager of the Online Services Division at Microsoft.

In addition, Chavez said consumers want a more "intelligent" relationship with technology. Simply put, they want the stuff to work without calling a lot of attention to itself.

“We want technology that disappears, but that doesn’t disconnect … In short, we want technology that’s on in the right way, and by ‘right’ we mean responsive to our needs in the moment … Not hyper-responsive, not intrusive and not constraining, but in the right way and at the right time,” Chavez said, according to MediaPost.

Age of serendipity

But at the same time, Chavez said consumers want to have a little excitement in their lives, maybe even a delightful surprise, something other than the Blue Screen of Death presumably.

“The Age of Serendipity is about receiving something at the right time and place, and in the right frame of mind,” Chavez added. “Give consumers a pleasant surprise, and they’re more likely to build a long-term relationship with [brands].”

"The challenge for marketers is in capturing that interplay and feeding back information — whether it’s logical, informational or more emotive and inspirational in nature — to the consumer at the right time and place in order to facilitate her decision-making process," Chavez said on his blog. 

OK, fine, but what happened to paying consumer for their data?

More than $9 million in restitution for consumers and $4 million in civil money penalties. That's what it'll cost against Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC and two of its officers for allegedly paying loan officers illegal bonuses.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has asked a federal district court to approve a consent order levying those fines against the company for allegedly steering consumers into costlier mortgages

“Our action has put an end to illegal steering of consumers and has put more than $9 million back in their pockets,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “This outcome embodies our mission -- to root out bad practices from the marketplace and ensure consumers are being treated fairly.”

The Utah-based mortgage company originated about $1.3 billion in loans in 2012. It maintains 45 branches and does business in 22 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, and Utah.

Lending rules violated

In July 2013, the CFPB filed a complaint  in federal district court against the mortgage company and two of its officers for allegedly paying illegal bonuses to loan officers who steered consumers into mortgages with higher interest rates.

The complaint claimed that Castle & Cooke, through actions taken by its president, Matthew A. Pineda, and senior vice-president of capital markets, Buck L. Hawkins, violated the Federal Reserve Board’s Loan Originator Compensation Rule by paying loan officers quarterly bonuses that varied based on the interest rate of the loans they offered to borrowers.

That rule banned compensation based on loan terms such as the interest rate of the loan. The rule had a mandatory compliance date of April 6, 2011, and authority over that rule transferred to the CFPB on July 21, 2011. The CFPB estimates that more than 1,100 quarterly bonuses were paid to over 215 Castle & Cooke loan officers.

Enforcement action

To ensure that all affected consumers are repaid and that consumers are no longer subject to these illegal practices, the defendants have agreed to:

• End unlawful compensation practices: Castle & Cooke must end compensation practices, such as giving loan officers bonuses that vary based on the interest rate of the loans they offered to consumers, that violate the Loan Originator Compensation Rule.
• Pay $9,232,896 toward consumer redress: The defendants will pay $9,232,896 to administer redress to consumers for their actions. Any borrower who has obtained a home loan from a Castle & Cooke loan officer since April 6, 2011, and whose loan officer received a quarterly bonus from Castle & Cooke for that loan, will receive a check. CFPM estimates that more than 9,400 consumers will receive checks.
• Pay a $4 million civil money penalty: The defendants -- Castle & Cooke, Pineda, and Hawkins -- will pay $4 million to the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund for their alleged violations.
• Ensure that Castle & Cooke retain records of compensation: Castle & Cooke will abide by federal law that requires creditors to retain evidence of compliance, such as payroll records.  

A shock for the analysts who were forecasting anemic job growth for the month of October.

The government reports the economy cranked out 204,000 nonfarm payroll positions last month -- more than twice as many as economists surveyed by Briefing.com had projected. At the same time, the September total was revised higher -- to 163,000 from 148,000, while August payrolls were revised up by 45,000 -- to 238,000.

Despite the big October jump, the civilian labor force was down by 720,000 and the labor force participation rate fell by 0.4% to 62.8%. The unemployment rate inched up 0.1% to 7.3%.

While headline job creation surpassed even the most optimistic forecast, Sterne Agee Chief Economist Lindsey M. Piegza says,"against a backdrop of declining participation and a reversal in the downward trend in the unemployment rate, it is hard to draw the same conclusion of net improvement, but rather a further juxtaposition between headline strength and detail weakness." If anything, Piegza says the report, "further muddies the water for future Fed policy."

Gains and losses

Job gains occurred last month in leisure and hospitality (53,000), retail trade (44,000), professional and technical services (21,000), manufacturing (19,000), and health care (15,000). Federal government employment continued to trend down.

There was little or no change in mining and logging, construction, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities.

Who's working and who's not

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.0%), adult women (6.4%), teenagers (22.2%),whites (6.3%), blacks (13.1%), Hispanics (9.1%) and Asians(5.2% showed little change.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) totaled 4.1 million in October. These individuals accounted for 36.1% of the unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has declined by 954,000 over the year.

The full October jobs report is available at the Labor Department website.

Income and Spending

U.S. workers enjoyed more income during September and managed to hang on to some of it.

Figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show personal income rose 0.5%, or $67.4 billion, in September, while personal consumption expenditures (PCE) were up $24.7 billion, or 0.2%.

Incomes

A breakdown of the income category shows private wages and salaries increased $18.8 billion in September. Goods producing industries' payrolls increased $4.4 billion, manufacturing payrolls increased were up $1.3 billion, and service-producing industries' payrolls jumped $14.3 billion.

Government wages and salaries increased $8.8 billion in September, compared with an increase of $2.3 billion in August, when wages were reduced by $7.3 billion due to furloughs that affected several federal government agencies.

Spending

Personal outlays -- PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments -- increased $32.6 billion in September, compared with an increase of $47.7 billion in August. PCE accounted for most of that with a surge of $24.7 billion.

The fact that incomes outstripped spending helped bust the savings rate a bit during September. Personal saving -- disposable personal income less personal outlays -- was $619.9 billion, pushing the personal savings rate up 0.2% from August -- to 4.9 percent.

The September income and spending report is available on the Commerce Department website.

An earlier recall of Bailey’s Choice dog treats is being expanded to include the following products:

• 100% Chicken Treat, lot # “Jun 2 2013”
• 100% Chicken Treat, lot # “Jun 3 2013”
• 100% Chicken Breast Treat, lot # “Jun 4 2013”
• 100% Chicken Treat, lot # “Jun 15 2013”
• 100% Chicken Treat, lot # “Jul 8 2013”
• 100% Chicken Treat, lot # “Jul 11 2013”
• 100% Teriyaki Chicken Treats, lot # 132881

The products, which were sold in Georgia, may be contaminated with Salmonella. To date, no illnesses have been reported.

The earlier recall was for packages of chicken treats in various sizes marked with lot number #132881 and expiration date Feb. 2014, along with five-ounce bags of chicken jerky with a lot number of “Jun 5 2013.”

Consumers should return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions should contact Bailey’s Choice at 770-881-0526 or thomdo4570@gmail.com.

Chrysler Group is recalling 91,559 model year 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured January 8, 2013, through August 20, 2013.

Due to a disruption of computer communications and loose alternator ground wires, the vehicles may experience random illumination of multiple instrument cluster warning lights, loss of cluster illumination and loss of anti-lock brake system (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) function.

A loss of ABS and ESC function reduces the driver's ability to control the vehicle. Drivers would not be warned of brake system failures or any other failures which would be illuminated on the dashboard display. Either condition increases the risk of a crash.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will update the ABS and instrument cluster module software and tighten the alternator ground wire, free of charge. The recall is planned to begin in November 2013.

Owners may contact Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753. Chrysler's recall campaign number is N58.

Wycen Foods of San Leandro, Calif., is recalling approximately 809 pounds of Chinese style chicken sausages, a dried snack food..

The sausages contain monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is not declared on the label. There have been no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following product is subject to recall:

• Individual “Chinese Style Chicken Sausage.”

The products were produced June 12, Aug. 14, Sept. 4, and Oct. 24, 2013 and were sold at a single San Francisco retail location. While the products have a shelf life of one year, some consumers may refrigerate, continue to air dry or freeze them.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Cynthia Wong, at (510) 351-1988.