Current Events in March 2014

American marijuana laws have been in flux for the past few years: at the federal level, marijuana is thoroughly illegal and officially lacking all medicinal value (unless it's sold in synthetic form as “Marinol,” which is available only via prescription). At the state level, things change: some states ban marijuana as thoroughly as do the feds, other states allow marijuana to be sold as a prescription drug, and in two states, Colorado and Washington, it is legal as a recreational drug — like alcohol, only far more restricted.

But there's one particular type of marijuana ban that hasn't changed anywhere in the U.S., and is unlikely to do so: TV watchers won't see ads for marijuana airing during commercial breaks.

It's worth mentioning, however, that marijuana is by no means exclusive in that regard; radio and TV ads for tobacco cigarettes have been banned in the U.S. since 1970. On the other hand, American TV viewers routinely see advertisements for prescription pharmaceuticals, which makes us an outlier by world standards; New Zealand is the only other country where “direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising” is legal.

Therefore, even assuming a near-future America where all federal and state marijuana-criminalization laws are rescinded, and marijuana became, presumably, the legal equivalent of alcohol where sale, use and possession are concerned — what would its legal status be regarding TV commercials? Banned completely, like tobacco cigarettes, or allowed in certain low-potency circumstances a la beer commercials? [He's the Most Interesting Man in the World, and he says: “I don't always get stoned, but when I do, I prefer San Diego Stinkweed. Stay profound, my friends.”]

And even if recreational marijuana ads were banned, that still leaves open the question of pharmaceutical/medicinal marijuana ads.

Non-existent non-issue

The non-issue of non-existent marijuana ads nonetheless became a short-lived media sensation last week (if you missed it, that's probably because you blinked) after MarijuanaDoctors.com issued a March 7 press release announcing its intention to air the first-ever medical marijuana TV commercials on various Comcast channels. Respected media outlets ranging from CNN and TIME to Comcast subsidiary NBC News reported the story as though the ads actually aired — except they never did (although they are visible on YouTube).

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So it brought free publicity to MarijuanaDoctors.com (exhibits A and B: this article exists, and you are reading it), yet it's worth asking: might this little stunt have somehow harmed the pro-marijuana-legalization cause?

When MediaPost explored the topic on March 11, it noted: “the question remains, can pot ads ever air nationally? Or is the only way for medical marijuana to receive national coverage to engage in this type of trickery?”

Of course, the wide availability of Internet access might render the question moot — content forbidden to broadcast over the airwaves is still easy to find on YouTube, and the very act of “watching TV,” let alone subscribing to cable, is in decline compared to obtaining content through computers or over handheld devices.

The Target corporation has had multiple problems lately, what with hackers wreaking all sorts of havoc, but its latest bit of bad publicity is entirely its own fault — no hacker malfeasance to blame, but actual Target employees (or subcontractors) doing their actual jobs.

This week, blogger Rebecca Rose from Jezebel discovered a photo on Target's website (which has since been taken down, although it's archived on Jezebel and countless other places across the Internet) showing a young girl modeling a two-piece swimsuit the company sells. Yet an unknown somebody in Target's graphics department used Photoshop to alter the appearance of the girl's body and swimsuit — specifically, changing the size and shape of her thighs and crotch, and slimming her waist and hips — so that the girl in the photo not only appears noticeably thinner than she actually is, she is thinner (and of different shapes and proportions) than is biologically possible.

She's also missing a triangle-shaped chunk of flesh from her hips, and it's safe to presume her image was altered in other ways which aren't as obvious because the Photoshopper at least remembered to stay within normal human biological guidelines.

As Rose said in Jezebel:

The worst, most horrible part of this (aside from the horrible Photoshopping skills of whatever poor graphic design intern got assigned to do this) is that this product is for their junior's line. This is what is being marketed and pushed on young girls—this absurd image of a crotch that absolutely does not and cannot happen naturally. This what young girls have to look at and try to reconcile with their own, normally shaped bodies.... I really don't know what the hell the purpose of this is, even from a purely superficial, swimsuit marketing standpoint. What was the issue with this model's original appearance that offended them so much that they thought this would be better?

Not unique

In all fairness to Target, it is in no way unique in its tendency to alter the appearance of the female body in ways that completely contradict the laws of biology, physics and common sense. “Photoshop Fail” in advertising is common enough to have entire blogs dedicated to it (and at least one magazine attempting to stamp it out).

Just last week, the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood urged the Girl Scouts to end its Barbie-themed partnership with Mattel, partially due to the unseemliness of using the Scouts to advertise toys to children, but mainly because of the unrealistic (and arguably unhealthy) self-image Barbie can create in young girls advertising to a basically because Barbie offers: an actual human being with Barbie-sized proportions would be unable to survive. For example, the neck-to-head circumference ratio would leave a Barbie-sized neck too narrow to support a Barbie-sized head.

Nor could Barbie stand, let alone walk, given ther proportions: her calves and ankles are too thin to support her body weight, even if her too-small feet were actually capable of holding her balance.

Point is, if you are a woman or girl of any age, and you're unhappy with your appearance because “I don't look as good as that model in this ad I see here,” don't take it personally. Even the model in the ad doesn't look like the model in the ad, at least not without heavy Photoshopping, airbrushing, and outright CGI fantasy invention.

For a significant segment of the population, migraine headaches are a real, well, headache. For many sufferers, migraines are not only frequent but also quite severe, including visual disturbances, vomiting and extreme pain that can last for days.

There are medications but they're not effective for everyone. Now, at long last, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first device intended to prevent migraines.

It's called Cefaly and it is technically known as a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device.

“Cefaly provides an alternative to medication for migraine prevention,” said Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “This may help patients who cannot tolerate current migraine medications for preventing migraines or treating attacks.”

Cefaly is a small, portable, battery-powered, prescription device that resembles a plastic headband worn across the forehead and atop the ears. The user positions the device in the center of the forehead, just above the eyes, using a self-adhesive electrode.

The device applies an electric current to the skin and underlying body tissues to stimulate branches of the trigeminal nerve, which has been associated with migraine headaches. The user may feel a tingling or massaging sensation where the electrode is applied. Cefaly is indicated for patients 18 years of age and older and should only be used once per day for 20 minutes.

Less pain

The FDA reviewed the data for Cefaly through a process used for low- to moderate-risk medical devices. It evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the device based on data from a clinical study conducted in Belgium involving 67 individuals who experienced more than two migraine headache attacks a month and who had not taken any medications to prevent migraines for three months prior to using Cefaly, as well as a patient satisfaction study of 2,313 Cefaly users in France and Belgium.

The 67-person study showed that those who used Cefaly experienced significantly fewer days with migraines per month and used less migraine attack medication than those who used a placebo device. The device did not completely prevent migraines and did not reduce the intensity of migraines that did occur.

The patient satisfaction study showed that a little more than 53 percent of patients were satisfied with Cefaly treatment and willing to buy the device for continued use. The most commonly reported complaints were dislike of the feeling and not wanting to continue using the device, sleepiness during the treatment session, and headache after the treatment session.

No serious adverse events occurred during either study.

Cefaly is manufactured by STX-Med in Herstal, Liege, Belgium.

After posting their first increase in more than a month last week, applications for mortgages are down again.

Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey show applications dropped 2.1% during the week ending March 7.

In addition, after a 10% surge the week before, the Refinance Index was down 3%, dropping the refinance share of mortgage activity to 57% of total applications -- the lowest level since April 2011, from 58 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity held stead at 8% of total applications.

Contract interest rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) jumped 5 basis points -- from 4.47% to 4.52%, with points increasing to 0.29 from 0.28 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) rose to 4.41% from 4.37%, with points unchanged at 0.20 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRM backed by the FHA was up 5 basis points -- to 4.18%, with points increasing to 0.21 from 0.13 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs inched up to 3.53% from 3.52%, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.18 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs shot up 9 basis points -- to 3.18%, with points decreasing to 0.36 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.

A Massachusetts-based home security company that illegally called millions of consumers on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry to pitch home security systems will pay for its transgressions.

According to the FTC, Versatile Marketing Solutions (VMS), under the guidance of its owner, Jasjit Gotra, called millions of consumers whose names and phone numbers VMS bought from lead generators.

The lead generators claimed that those consumers had given VMS permission to contact them about the installation of a free home security system; but in reality, they had not. The FTC's complaint alleges that the defendants’ tactics violated the the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

The sales leads were obtained by illegal means through rampant use of robocalls from “Tom with Home Protection,” fake survey calls, and calls to phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. According to the complaint, VMS subsequently called these consumers without first checking to see if they had registered their telephone numbers on the DNC Registry.

Warning signs ignored

In addition, the complaint contends VMS ignored warning signs that the lead generators were engaged in illegal telemarketing practices. For example, many consumers contacted by VMS complained that they had not given the company permission to call, nor had they given permission to receive a robocall. Despite mounting complaints, VMS continued buying leads from the same lead generators, and calling consumers using those leads.

“Companies that use lead generators must exercise due diligence when they buy lists of phone numbers,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, “or else they can be on the hook for illegal telemarketing. Relying on a say-so that the numbers were obtained legally, or that the consumers have agreed to be called, even if their numbers are on the Do Not Call Registry, isn’t enough.”

The complaint says that between November 2011, and July 2012, VMS made more than two million calls to consumers to try to sell home security goods and services. Of those calls, at least one million were to phone numbers listed on the DNC Registry, and more than 100,000 were to consumers who had previously told VMS not to call them again -- another violation of the DNC rules.

No more calls

The stipulated final court order settling the charges prohibits VMS and Gotra from making abusive telemarketing calls and from calling any consumer whose number is on the DNC Registry, unless they can prove that they have received written permission to make the call or that they have an established business relationship with that consumer.

It further bars them from calling any consumer who has previously told VMS not to call them again, and places restrictions on how defendants can obtain and use lead-generated phone numbers in the future.

Finally, the order imposes a $3.4 million penalty judgment against the defendants, with all but $320,700 suspended due to their inability to pay. The entire amount will become due if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.

If you have young children and let them play “free” game apps on their handheld devices, watch out: the kids might be ringing up hundreds of dollars' worth of bills without even realizing it — until you get the bill at the end of the month.

The mother of two preschoolers in New York is suing Google after she downloaded the 99-cent children's game app “Run Jump Smash” to her Samsung tablet. Within the first 30 minutes of playing the game, however, the kids bought $66 worth of in-game currency.

This is actually a common feature of many free or low-cost games: you can indeed play for free, but you're very limited in what you can do unless you pay for certain upgrades. Imagine being invited to play the old-fashioned Monopoly board game: it costs you nothing to join the game and use Monopoly money to buy Monopoly properties, but if you want to put houses and hotels on your properties you must spend real-world cash money first.

You, of course, are too savvy to do this, but critics say it's unreasonable to expect preschool kids to have the same financial wisdom (or even recognize the difference between “This link is free” and “That link costs money every time you click on it”).

Doesn't tell parents

Imber-Gluck's complaint is that when Google lets parents download free or inexpensive apps for kids, it does not tell the parents that for the first 30 minutes, anyone playing the app can automatically purchase in-game currency.

Media Post reports that Imber-Gluck alleges “Google offers many games that use the same bait-and-switch business scheme as Run Jump Smash … Google entices the child with a free or inexpensive (e.g., $0.99) download of a gaming platform that then offers the sale of irresistible game currency in order to enjoy the game as it was designed to be played.”

Imber-Gluck is bringing a class action suit which, among other things, demands that Google give parents to void any in-app purchases made by their children. Meanwhile, you should keep a sharp eye on your children's Google game-playing activities — at least for the first 30 minutes.

Where news headlines are concerned, “Hackers gain access to company database and steal customer info” has become almost as common as “Local woman gives birth.” It happens all the time, so unless you're personally involved with one or more of the actors it probably doesn't concern you.

So anytime you read such a news article – whether about Target, Sally Beauty or any other company in existence – there's always a part which says “If you are a recent customer of this company, here's certain steps you must take to protect yourself from identity thieves.” These steps often include contacting one of the big credit-reporting data broker agencies, like Experian, to warn them against possibly fraudulent activities on your account.

But the latest security breach, which KrebsOnSecurity reported on March 14, might be tougher to protect yourself against, since the identity thieves gained access to the files of Experian itself. More specifically: Vietnamese national Hieu Minh Ngo tricked Experian subsidiaries US Info Search and Court Ventures into believing he was a legitimate private investigator with legitimate (read: non-criminal) reasons to access data brokers' files.

As Krebs noted:

Posing as a private investigator operating out of Singapore, Ngo contracted with Court Ventures, paying for his access to consumer records via regular cash wire transfers from a bank in Singapore. Through that contract, Ngo was able to make available to his clients [identity thieves] access to the US Info Search database containing Social Security, date of birth and other records on more than 200 million Americans.

Experian came into the picture in March 2012, when it purchased Court Ventures (along with all of its customers — including Mr. Ngo). For almost ten months after Experian completed that acquisition, Ngo continued siphoning consumer data and making his wire transfers.

Full extent not clear

News of the Experian breach first came to light last October, but until recently, the full extent of the security damage was not made clear. Last week, finally, new information came to light. The Secret Service (which arrested Hieu last year) claims that Hieu's clients used their fraudulently obtained information for a wide variety of identity-theft schemes: opening credit lines and running up debt in other people's names, filing false tax returns and so forth.

Krebs noted (italics from the original): “The transcript shows government investigators found that over an 18-month period ending Feb. 2013, Ngo’s customers made approximately 3.1 million queries on Americans.”

It gets worse. As Krebs explained, each individual query would bring up records on multiple people — a query for “Brian Krebs” in Virginia brought back results for at least 10 different individuals, 10 people who'd be at extreme risk of identity theft after a data broker handed their confidential account information over to a fake private investigator in Singapore.

It is not known exactly how many Americans' personal information was compromised, though the government has promised to release more information “in the near future.” In the meanwhile, it might not be possible to conclusively determine whether or not your personal information is now in the hands of Hieu or his clients. All you can do is remember all the “protect yourself from identity theft” advice you've ever heard, and be doubly vigilant about it.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee wants some answers

The panel, chaired by Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), is opening an investigation into the way General Motors (GM) and National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) responded to consumer complaints related to problems with ignition switches in certain vehicles.

Ignoring the problem?

General Motors has announced the recalls of six vehicle models to correct the problems, saying the defects may have been linked to 31 frontal crashes and 13 fatalities.

NHTSA is also investigating the situation, but now the investigators are being investigated.

While the recalls were first announced last month, a recent New York Times report claims NHTSA has received a large number of complaints expressing safety concerns and describing these problems spanning over the past 10 years.

TREAD Act

It has been over a decade since the enactment of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, which was passed by Congress to enhance the federal government’s ability to protect against auto safety defects.

The legislation, which came in the wake of the Ford-Firestone tire malfunctions, was intended to improve communication between auto manufacturers and the federal government and increase NHTSA’s ability to collect and analyze information about potential threats.

In light of GM’s safety problems, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will seek a progress report on the TREAD Act’s implementation and pursue answers relating to the complaints filed with NHTSA, the response, and the eventual recalls.

Significant questions about implementation of the TREAD Act need to be answered, said Upton. “Did the company or regulators miss something that could have flagged these problems sooner? If the answer is yes, we must learn how and why this happened, and then determine whether this system of reporting and analyzing complaints that Congress created to save lives is being implemented and working as the law intended. Americans deserve to have the peace of mind that they are safe behind the wheel.”

Upton says the panel will “seek detailed information from both NHTSA and GM and will hold a hearing in the coming weeks.”

It pays to gripe.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), servicemembers, veterans, and their families who complained the about financial products or services have recovered more than $1 million.

The CFPB’s second snapshot of complaints from military consumers, covers more than 14,000 complaints from servicemembers, veterans, and their families received by the CFPB from July 21, 2011, through February 1, 2014.

“Military families make enormous sacrifices for our nation and deserve to be protected,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “I am pleased that the Bureau has assisted thousands in cutting through red tape when dealing with their financial institutions. However, the complaints show that many servicemembers, veterans, and their families are not getting the protections accorded to them by federal laws and that raises concern.”

Similar to civilian complaints

By and large, the complaints submitted by the military track with those of the population at large. In the last fiscal quarter, the CFPB handled on average more than 250 complaints per week from military families. Complaints have come from every state, and every rank and branch of the Armed Services.

While servicemembers, veterans, and their families who complained to the CFPB have received more than $1 million in relief since July 2011, not all who submitted complaints received money. Some received non-monetary relief -- such as cleaning up their credit reports, stopping harassment from debt collectors, and correcting account information -- while others had their complaints closed without relief.

Monetary relief

But the CFPB has seen monetary relief returned to military consumers across all products. Among companies that reported monetary relief, this includes:

• A median amount of $470 for mortgages;
• A median amount of $143 for credit cards; and
• A median amount of $125 for bank account or service.

According to the report, the top three complaints by servicemembers, veterans, and their families are mortgages, debt collection, and credit cards.

Servicemember protection concerns

While servicemembers have all the protections that everyday consumers have, they may also have additional protections based on their military service. The CFPB says it is particularly concerned about when servicemembers are not seeing the unique protections accorded to them by federal laws.

Specifically, the bureau is concerned with:

• Debt collection: Since the CFPB began taking debt collection complaints in July 2013, it has quickly become the top complaint category for servicemembers. Specifically, the agency is concerned about aggressive and deceptive tactics used by debt collectors against military members. These tactics often involve contacting a servicemember’s military chain of command, threatening punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, threatening to have a servicemember reduced in rank, or threatening to have a servicemember’s security clearance revoked.
• Student loans: The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) provides financial protections so that members of the Armed Forces can undertake military duties without adverse financial consequences. But military consumers have reported problems obtaining correct and consistent information on available SCRA protections for their student loans. Some report being incorrectly told by their loan servicer that protections apply only when they are deployed or that the loan must be in deferment. Consumers also report they are repeatedly and incorrectly asked to submit additional documentation such as paperwork showing recertification of active duty status.
• Payday loans: The Military Lending Act (MLA) prohibits interest rates above 36% on some types of loans, including certain payday loans, auto title, and tax refund anticipation loans, to active-duty military, their spouses, and dependents. While the number of payday loan complaints received from servicemembers has been relatively small, the CFPB is concerned that lenders are skirting the MLA by lending just outside its narrow parameters.
• Mortgages: Military consumers have complained about mortgage servicers’ lack of knowledge about military-specific programs. They report that servicers are unaware of the guidance offered by the CFPB and the other prudential regulators that servicers must provide accurate and timely information about available assistance options when a military family gets Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. Military consumers have also complained that servicers do not know about the short-sale guidelines aimed at assisting servicemembers with PCS orders, or that a PCS move may be considered a qualifying hardship for various foreclosure-prevention programs.

Blackberry, Quiznos and Kmart head the list of dying brands compiled by a New York marketing guru.

"A brand can't do well in today's marketplace if it can't engage consumers, no matter how many ads are run, and no matter how much social networking one does," said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys. "Brand engagement correlates very highly with positive consumer behavior, sales, and profits. All you have to do is look and see how the brand is doing in the marketplace to confirm customer assessments."

Passikoff said that brand engagement,– defined as the degree to which a brand is seen to meet the expectations consumers hold for the ideal in the category,– is a leading indicator of positive consumer behavior and brand loyalty.

They are the ultimate measure for the brand, "which should always be the beneficiary of any marketing or advertising effort," said Passikoff. "People can be engaged with a show or a social network or an event or an experience, but those are methods of engagement. Brand engagement is the ultimate goal."

By examining how well 64 brands did at meeting those expectations for their Ideal, Brand Keys identified the 10 least engaging brands for 2014. From the lowest level of engagement, brands ranked as follows:

1. Blackberry 52%
2. Quiznos 57%
3. Kmart 59%
4. Sony (e-readers) 60%
5. WOW search engine 60%
6. Sears (64%)
7. American Apparel 65%
8. Budweiser (regular) 70%
9. Coty Cosmetics (71%)
10. Volkswagen (79%)

"Brands compete in specific categories," noted Passikoff. "By seeing how well customers think a brand measures up to meeting their ideal retailer, or beer, or smartphone, allows for cross-category rankings like these."

"Where engagement is high consumers behave better toward a brand and the brand sees more sales and, along with that, should also see increased share and profits. Where engagement is low, the reverse happens," noted Passikoff. "Always."

For the Brand Keys 2014 survey, 32,000 consumers, 18 to 65 years of age, drawn from the nine U.S. Census regions, self-selected the categories in which they are consumers, and the brands for which they are customers (top-20%). Seventy percent (70%) were interviewed by phone, twenty-five percent (25%) via face-to-face interviews (to include cell phone-only households), and 5% participated online.

Lots of people swear by glucosamine, saying it helps relieve arthritis pain and, in particular, reduces knee pain. But a new study finds that glucosamine supplements are not associated with a lessening of knee cartilage deterioration among individuals with chronic knee pain.

The findings, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) journal, indicate that glucosamine does not decrease pain or improve knee bone marrow lesions — more commonly known as bone bruises and thought to be a source of pain in those with osteoarthritis.

Nor is it what the doctor ordered for hip pain. A study in 2008 found that glucosamine had no apparent effect on hip arthritis. Those with very mild arthritis noted some slight improvement when taking the glucosamine, but the improvement was very small

$2 billion in sales

At least 27 million Americans over 25 years of age have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis — the most common form of arthritis and a leading cause of disability in the elderly. Many patients seek alternative therapies, with glucosamine ranking as the second most commonly-used natural product.

In fact, a 2007 Gallup poll reports that 10% of individuals in the U.S. over the age of 18 use glucosamine, with more than $2 billion in global sales of the supplement.

The study is the first to investigate whether the supplement prevents the worsening of cartilage damage or bone marrow lesions.

"Our study found no evidence that drinking a glucosamine supplement reduced knee cartilage damage, relieved pain, or improved function in individuals with chronic knee pain," said Dr. C. Kent Kwoh from the University of Arizona in Tucson, who led the study.

Back in 2011, the University of Virginia wanted dramatic aerial shots of its medical school, so it hired photographer Raphael Pirker, who used an unmanned model glider aircraft around the university's campus in Charlottesville.

The photos came out fine but the Federal Aviation Administration was not amused and fined Pirker $10,000, claiming he had violated a ban on commercial drones enacted by the FAA in 2007.

But Judge Patrick Geraghty of the National Transportation Safety Board dismissed the FAA's suit against Pirker, Courthouse News Service reported.

Geraghty said the FAA Modernization Re-Authorization and Reform Act, which Congress passed in 2012, reflects that no effective laws on drones were in place at the time.

The ruling was stayed, however, pending an appeal by the FAA and commercial drone flights will still be subject to fines while the stay is in effect.

"The agency is concerned that this decision could impact the safe operation of the national airspace system and the safety of people and property on the ground," the FAA said in a statement.

Amazon has said it is working on a plan to use unmanned drones to deliver packages and police departments around the country have been formulating plans to use drones for "routine surveillance," a prospect that has brought a strong response from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.  

The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board is quitting to become the president of CEO of the National Safety Council. Deborah Hersman has been a vocal and frequent critic of the automobile industry and has pushed for tougher laws covering drunken driving, driver distraction and other safety issues.

"We have got to dispel the myth of multitasking," Hersman, 43, said in early 2012 of the proliferation of electronic devices and communication services in light vehicles, Automotive News reported. "We are still learning what the human brain can handle. What is the price of our desire to be mobile and connected at the same time?"

She has called for the use of technology, including collision warning systems, to make cars safer and has criticized automakers for loading up cars with complex entertainment, communications and navigation systems.

"Too many people are texting, talking and driving at the same time," Hersman told a Washington hearing in December 2011. "It's time to put a stop to distraction. No call, no text, no update is worth a human life."

The 100-year-old National Safety Council was chartered by Congress to prevent unintentional injury and death. It is headquartered in suburban Chicago.

“Debbie is a recognized leader in safety, with a frontline understanding of the value of protecting human life through thoughtful attention and management of risk,” said Jeff Woodbury, chairman of NSC board of directors.

At NTSB, Hersman has been on-scene for more than 20 major transportation accidents, chaired scores of NTSB hearings, forums and events, and testified before Congress.

Hersman was first appointed as a NTSB board member by President Bush in 2004 and was reappointed to two additional five-year terms by President Obama in 2009 and 2013. She was appointed chairman by President Obama in 2009, 2011 and 2013, with unanimous Senate confirmation votes. 

Most funeral homes checked last year by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigators working undercover are following the rules when it comes to disclose pricing information to consumers.

But, in the eight states they visited, the investigators found 32 of the 124 funeral homes they checked failed to disclose the information as required by the FTC's Funeral Rule.

The agency conducts undercover inspections every year to make sure that funeral homes are complying with the rule, which was issued in 1984 and gives consumers important rights when making funeral arrangements.

The rule's provisions

Key provisions of the rule require funeral homes to provide consumers with an itemized general price list at the start of an in-person discussion of funeral arrangements, as well as a casket price list before consumers view any caskets and an outer burial container price list before they view grave liners or vaults.

It also prohibits funeral homes from requiring consumers to buy any item, such as a casket, as a condition of obtaining any other funeral good or service. By requiring itemized prices, the Funeral Rule enables consumers to compare prices and buy only the goods and services they want.

What they found

The results of the FTC inspections for price list disclosures by region are as follows:

• In Palm Springs, California, 1 of 8 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required;
• In Southern Connecticut and Northern New Jersey, 2 of 19 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required;
• In Monroe, Louisiana, 8 of 17 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required.
• In Baltimore, Maryland, 2 of 19 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required.
• In Dayton, Ohio, 5 of 15 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required.
• In Portland, Oregon, 2 of 14 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required.
• In Amarillo, Texas, 6 of 19 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required.
• In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 4 of 18 funeral homes inspected failed to make a price list disclosure as required.

Remedial action

Funeral homes with price list disclosure violations can enter a training program designed to increase compliance with the Funeral Rule. The three-year program is known as the Funeral Rule Offenders Program (FROP), and is an alternative to an FTC lawsuit that could lead to a federal court order and civil penalties of up to $16,000 per violation.

It is run by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) and provides participants with a legal review of the price disclosures required by the Funeral Rule, and on-going training, testing and monitoring for compliance with the Rule. In addition, funeral homes that participate in the program make a voluntary payment to the U.S. Treasury in place of a civil penalty, and pay annual administrative fees to the Association.

All but two of the funeral homes with violations have agreed to enter the NFDA’s FROP program. The names of homes that have entered FROP are not released under the terms of the FROP program, and the FTC does not identify businesses under investigation.

In addition, the FTC identified a number of funeral homes within the eight states with only minor compliance deficiencies. In such cases, the FTC contacts the funeral home and requires it to provide evidence that it has corrected the problems. Since the FROP program began in 1996, the FTC has inspected over 2,800 funeral homes, 459 of which have agreed to enter the FROP program.

Parents concerned that their children may be putting on too much weight have reason to be concerned. Not only are more children overweight but obesity is a growing phenomenon with longterm health implications.

The rate of childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 1980 only seven percent of U.S. children between the ages of six and 11 were obese. By 2012 the percentage had surged to 18%.

The record for adolescents is even more distressing. The obesity rate rose from five percent in 1980 to 21% in 2012.

In most cases being overweight or obese is caused by consuming more calories than are expended. To reduce or prevent these conditions, doctors say efforts should focus on reducing consumption and increasing activity.

Healthy diet

Experts point out that it starts with a healthy diet. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a nutritious meal for a child includes plenty of fruits and vegetables. NIH suggests fruits and vegetables should cover half the plate at a typical meal.

Children should also get plenty of healthy forms of protein, such as lean meat, nuts and eggs. When preparing food, broil, steam or grill instead of frying. Avoid fast food as a regular source of meals. When you do eat out, take advantage of fast food restaurants' recent addition of healthier fare to their menus.

It's also important to keep an eye on beverage consumption. Encourage your children to drink plenty of water and go easy on sugary beverages. Fruit juice may be healthy but should be consumed in moderation, since juices tend to be loaded with calories.

Get moving

A second step is to keep kids active, and here, sports participation appears to significantly diminish obesity risk. The Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition says children who participate in sports have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who are not active in sports.

To maintain healthy weight, encourage your child to find a sport or activity he or she enjoys — basketball, softball, soccer, martial arts, swimming or running. The Academy says it doesn’t matter as long as it gets them moving.

Lose the bedroom TV

A third step may be just as important as a healthy diet and regular exercise – limiting time spent in front of a computer or TV screen. A recent study by researchers at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center found that having a bedroom television was a significant predictor of adolescent weight gain.

“This study suggests that removing bedroom TVs is an important step in our nation’s fight against child obesity,” said study first author Diane Gilbert-Diamond. “We found that adolescents with a TV in their bedroom gained about one extra pound a year, compared to those without one, even after accounting for hours of TV watched each day and socioeconomic factors.”

Kids having a TV in their bedroom is a lot more common than you might think. According to the researchers, over half of adolescents in the U.S. have one.

Gilbert-Diamond says this obesity risk factor accounts for over 15 million pounds of excess weight gain per year among U.S. adolescents. She points out that unlike other parenting strategies that require persistent effort and vigilance, parents can make a difference by simply keeping televisions out of their children’s bedrooms.

“Get rid of the TV while children are still in elementary school,” says James Sargent, a pediatrician and collaborator on the study. “You will all go through a couple of weeks of complaining and misery, and then everyone will forget that it was there in the first place.”

Many low-income Americans are caught in a Catch-22 situation: they can't afford mandatory minimum liability coverage on the car they need to get to and from work. And a new report from the Consumer Federation of America says state and local crackdowns on uninsured drivers and steadily rising premiums are making matters worse.

Most of these drivers with good driving records must pay at least $500 annually for mandatory coverage while many must spend at least $1,000, an amount they're often not able to raise. Stiffer penalties for violators, including large fines, vehicle impoundment and jailtime, aren't helping the situation, the report finds.

“Most uninsured drivers are responsible citizens; they just can’t afford auto insurance premiums that represent their largest driving expense,” said CFA’s executive director, Stephen Brobeck. “Tough enforcement of punitive insured driver laws target many low-income workers who are struggling to survive financially. And increases in required liability coverage just force more of them to drive without insurance.”

No easy solutions

Saying it recognizes there are no easy or perfect solutions, CFA recommends that state and local officials should: 

• Establish state programs, like California’s, in which low- and moderate-income residents with good driving records can purchase liability coverage for $350 or less.
• For a start, lower liability minimums for those lower income drivers with good driving records.
• Restrict insurer use of rating factors – such as occupation, income, credit rating, marital status, and homeownership – that are highly correlated with income and discriminate against lower income drivers.
• Focus laws and enforcement efforts on drivers who have demonstrated that they do not drive safely.

“State legislators and insurance regulators need to recognize that the uninsured motorist problem is much more about affordability than about irresponsibility,” said J. Robert Hunter, CFA’s Director of Insurance and former Texas Insurance Commissioner. “These officials need to take steps, such as eliminating insurer use of discriminatory rating factors and creating programs for safe lower-income drivers, that allow these drivers to afford required liability coverage.”

Some are unsafe

The CFA report recommends that state and local officials redirect their efforts from punishing safe uninsured drivers to helping them afford mandatory liability coverage. It does, however, distinguish between safe, responsible drivers and those who drive unsafely and irresponsibly, urging government officials to crack down only on the latter.

“Some uninsured drivers simply don’t want to pay for auto insurance, even if they can afford it, and some drivers have caused so many accidents, and been ticketed so often for speeding and other moving violations, that their premiums are huge,” said CFA’s Brobeck.

“Governments should focus on these uninsured drivers, not the majority who take special pains to drive safely and responsibly so they are not stopped by the police. But they don’t need expensive new state verification systems to do so. They already have access to adequate information about moving violations and reckless driving.” 

This may not be a test that anyone is very eager to take, but researchers at Georgetown University say they have developed a blood test that can predict with more than 90% accuracy whether a healthy person will develop Alzheimer's disease or other dementias within three years.

It's the first known test that can identify blood markers for Alzheimer's before symptoms begin to appear.

Although there is currently no cure for Alzheimer's, the Georgetown team says their test would give patients, their physicians and researchers a headstart at battling the disease.

"Our novel blood test offers the potential to identify people at risk for progressive cognitive decline and can change how patients, their families and treating physicians plan for and manage the disorder," said Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and executive vice president for health sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Described in Nature Medicine, the test identifies 10 lipids, or fats, in the blood that predict disease onset. It could be ready for use in clinical studies in as few as two years.

Federoff said the test offers "a window of opportunity for timely disease-modifying intervention" by giving an early warning that would allow new drugs and therapies, once they are developed, to slow or stop further development of the invariably fatal disease, which robs victims of their memory and intellectual faculties. 

"Biomarkers such as ours that define this asymptomatic period are critical for successful development and application of these therapeutics," he said.

A growing epidemic

There is no cure or effective treatment for Alzheimer's. Worldwide, about 35.6 million individuals have the disease and, according to the World Health Organization, the number will double every 20 years to 115 million by 2050.

"We consider our results a major step toward the commercialization of a preclinical disease biomarker test that could be useful for large-scale screening to identify at-risk individuals," Federoff said. "We're designing a clinical trial where we'll use this panel to identify people at high risk for Alzheimer's to test a therapeutic agent that might delay or prevent the emergence of the disease."

When financing a new car, consumers have the option of a purchase or a lease. In the past a lease was usually reserved for very expensive cars or those used in businesses, where the payments could be a tax write-off.

But increasingly, new car shoppers are choosing a lease over a purchase, no doubt in large part to some attractive lease terms being offered on all types of vehicles. As a car dealer finance manager told me when I recently leased a vehicle, “manufacturers have figured out leases are great for business. In three years you'll be back for another vehicle.”

Perhaps, although I do have the option of purchasing my leased vehicle if I want. But he's right about the attractiveness to carmakers. Market data shows that people who purchase a car drive it an average of six years.

Having a low monthly lease payment and being able to trade-in for a new car in three years without much adjustment to the payment is attractive. And it turns out I'm not the only one thinking that way.

Leasing at all-time high

Experian Automotive reports more consumers are choosing to lease vehicles than ever before. In fact, the percentage of consumers choosing a lease over a purchase in the fourth quarter of 2013 was the highest since the company began reporting the data in 2006.

According to its latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, Experian found 28.4 percent of financed vehicles in the fourth quarter were leased. That's up from 24.8% a year earlier.

The reason for the increase isn't really a mystery. A modest, mid-size sedan might have a lease payment of $189 a month with $2,000 due at signing. To purchase the same vehicle might require a larger down payment and a monthly payment of $500, if financed over the same three-year period. Longer finance periods would lower the payment but not anything close to the lease payment.

Lower payments a big draw

"Leasing continues to grow in popularity among car shoppers, especially those hoping to stay within a strict monthly budget," said Melinda Zabritski, senior director of automotive credit for Experian Automotive. "Our analysis this quarter showed that the average monthly lease payment was $51 lower than the average loan payment, which can make a big difference to consumers trying to stretch their dollar."

The average monthly payment on a new car purchase was $471 while the lease payment was $420. The latter may be higher because more expensive luxury cars tend to be the ones that are leased. But there are also plenty of vehicles that can be leased for $200 or less a month.

Rising prices

Car values have also changed, making a lease look a bit more attractive. The Experian Automotive reports shows the average new car financed in the fourth quarter cost $27,430. Amortized over four, five or even six years, that's a hefty payment, even with a low interest rate.

A lease, on the other hand, charges the buyer only for the depreciation on the car while they drive it. The monthly payment is based on the purchase price of the car and the residual value – what the car is worth – at the end of the lease. Because today's cars hold their value better, the cars are worth more after three years than they used to be.

For those buying a new car in the fourth quarter, it was a little easier to obtain financing. The Experian data shows the average credit scores for both new leases and loans were lower than the previous year.

The average credit score for a lease dropped the most, 16 points to 719 in the fourth quarter of 2013. The average credit score for new vehicle loans experienced a smaller drop, falling from 724 in 2012 to 715 in 2013.