Current Events in June 2014

K & W Sausage of Evansdale, Iowa, is recalling approximately 1,761 pounds of sausage products.

The products contain soy and wheat, known allergens, which are not declared on the product labels.

no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The products subject to recall include:

• 16-oz. vacuum packed “Hot Franks” with a packaging code in the format “###14”
• Various size packages of “Polish Sausage Hot” with packaging codes 15314, 15514, 16114, 16214, 16814, 16514, or 16914
• Various size packages of “Beef Polish Sausage Hot” with packaging codes 15314, 15514, 16114, 16214, 16814, 16514, or 16914

The products subject to recall bear “EST. 15708” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the labels.

The Hot Franks were produced on various dates from January 16, through June 20, 2014. The other products were produced on various dates from June 3, through June 18, 2014. All products were distributed to retailers in Iowa.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Mark Knief at 319-233-4714.

Scott USA of Ketchum, Idaho, and Trek Bicycle of Waterloo, Wis., are recalling about 125, 200 model year 2011 through 2013 Scott and Trek bicycles with SR Suntour front forks.

The front fork can break, posing a crash hazard.

Scott has received one report of a broken SR Suntour fork. No injuries were reported. Trek has received 28 reports of broken forks. Five injuries have been reported, including minor bruises, a separated shoulder and broken bones.

Recalled Scott bicycles have 700c wheels, disc brakes and one of the following Suntour front fork models: NEX or NCX. Bicycle model names and numbers are on the main frame of each bicycle in a location that varies by model. The model year can be identified by the color scheme of the bicycle frame. The fork’s model name is printed on the outer sides of the fork.

The following Scott bicycles with Suntour forks are being recalled:

Recalled Trek bicycles have disc brakes and one of the following Suntour front fork models: NEX, NRX (with IS mounts), XCM (on bicycles with 29-inch wheels) or XCT (on bicycles with 29-inch wheels). Bicycle model names and numbers are on the top tube near the seat tube or near the head tube. Bicycles with a serial number ending in F, G or H should be taken to the dealer for inspection. The serial number is on the frame of the bicycle under the bottom bracket. The fork’s model name is printed on the outer sides of the fork.

The following Trek bicycles with Suntour forks are being recalled:

The bicycles, manufactured in China and Taiwan, were sold at bicycle stores nationwide from October 2010, to November 2013, for between $450 and $1,100 for Scott bicycles, and from May 2010, to June 2014, for between $600 and $1,370 for Trek bicycles.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bicycles. Consumers with recalled Scott bicycles should take them to an authorized Scott dealer for a free repair of the NEX model or a free replacement lower fork for the NCX model.

Consumers with recalled Trek bicycles should take them to an authorized Trek dealer for a free repair of NEX, XCM and XCT models or a free replacement of the NRX model.

Consumers may contact Scott USA toll-free at (888) 607-8365, ext. 2012, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.  

As the world's population grows, keeping it fed is an increasingly serious concern. One way to alleviate that concern about food is to not waste so much of it.

The Institute of Food Technologists estimates the world wastes some 1.3 billion tons of food each year. If that sounds like a lot, it is. It amounts to about a third of the food produced each year for human consumption.

The food technologists have launched a campaign – FutureFood 2050 – to reduce global food waste. That 1.3 billion tons of wasted food, they say, could feed 1.23 billion people.

“So much attention is paid to increasing global food supplies over the next several decades,” said Tristram Stuart, a world-renowned food waste activist profiled on the FutureFood 2050 website. “But we waste a third of the world’s food supply already, so one way of tackling food security and the environmental impact of food production is to implement the many ways to more efficiently use the food that we already produce.”

Only the best make it to market

One place where food gets wasted is in the grocery store supply chain. Walk into just about any supermarket and you'll find row after row of beautiful and inviting produce and fruit.

But what about the fruit and produce that comes out of the ground not meeting standards for perfection? It's still got the same nutritional quality but consumers won't buy it, so it often gets thrown out.

The same is true for dairy, meat and other freshly-produced food items. If it is close to the “sell-by” date, consumers will often not buy them. As a result they end up in the dumpster.

Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s, is well aware of this problem. Now he's taking this retail principle of always in-stock, cosmetically desirable food and trying to prevent these perfectly edible items from going to waste.

Market for “ugly food”

Rauch plans to sell “ugly food” at a deep discount so that it won't go to waste. He hopes to launch Daily Table this fall in Boston.

Teaming up with Boston-area supermarkets, farms and food service buyers like hospitals and hotels, Daily Table will provide a market for these unloved products. Rauch says consumers will be able to buy bread, dairy, eggs and produce “as is.”

He hopes to achieve two goals. One: food that might otherwise be wasted is prepared and eaten. Second: low income consumers can get access to nutritious food for less than they would spend for processed products or at fast food restaurants.

“Calories are cheap. Nutrition is expensive,” Rauch told the FutureFood 2050 website. “I’d like 1 in 6 Americans to eat what they should be eating. I want the problem to be solved. Daily Table has a potentially innovative and different approach. And if it works, it’s an idea that is scalable.”

Confusion over dates

While some food never gets to the supermarket for cosmetic reasons, other food products are discarded by the stores because consumers didn't buy them. One of the reasons for that, the food technologists contend, is confusion among consumers about what the dates on the packaging actually mean.

For example, the “sell by” date is determined by the product's manufacturer or producer. It's the date by which the product should be sold at retail. However, typically one-third of the product's shelf life remains, according to the technologists.

Consumers sometimes confuse the “sell by” date with the “use by” date. That's the date after which a product should be discarded.

The “best buy” date suggests the latest a product should be consumed for maximum quality. However, it is perfectly fine after that time.

According to the food technologists, inconsistency in date labeling and consumer confusion about what those dates mean, lead to unnecessary food waste.

“We have done a horrible job of making things clear to customers on what the terms ‘sell by’ or ‘best by’ dates really mean,” said Rauch. Once that date passes, consumers assume that the food or produce is unsafe to eat, “when of course it’s not.”  

Some of the financial costs are obvious -- costly treatments, expensive drugs. But some of the costs are not so obvious: the loss of income while fighting the disease and travel to see specialists.

The concern is that this financial stress leads to more physical stress.

Avoiding the topic

“Few physicians discuss this increasingly significant side effect with their patients,” said Jonas de Souza, MD, a head-and-neck cancer specialist at University of Chicago Medicine. “Physicians aren’t trained to do this. It makes them, as well as patients, feel uncomfortable,” he said. “We aren’t good at it.”

De Souza is lead author of a study by University of Chicago cancer specialists who have developed a tool — 11 questions, assembled and refined from conversations with more than 150 patients with advanced cancer — to measure a patient’s risk for, and ability to tolerate, financial stress.

“We believe that a thoughtful, concise tool that could help predict a patient’s risk for financial toxicity might open the lines of communication,” de Souza said. “This gives us a way to launch that discussion.”

Escalating costs

All health care costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation. The cost of cancer care is rising even faster than the cost of health care, and the cost of new cancer drugs is rising faster than the cost of overall cancer care.

The financial pain felt by cancer patients often extends far beyond treatment. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found that 30% of cancer survivors are not able to return to work, or have decreased ability to work.

The cost of fighting the disease goes up every year. For example, for men who have had cancer health care spending rises, on average, by $4,000 a year. For women the total is only slightly less – $3,300.

“We need better ways to find out which patients are most at risk,” de Souza said. “Then we can help them get financial assistance. If patients know what to expect, they may want their physicians to consider less costly medications.”

American Cancer Society concerned

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has also expressed concern about the disease's financial toll. It warns that out-of-pocket costs – those not covered by insurance – can add up quickly and can affect patients' ability to pay for other things they need.

“In some cases, the cost is so high a person decides to stop cancer treatment early, or not get it at all,” ACS warns. “Sometimes this ends up costing more later on. But the bigger problem is that skipping treatment can worsen health outcomes.”

According to ACS, knowing what costs you will be facing can help you better prepare to deal with the financial end of your disease. These costs may include:

• Doctor visits
• Lab tests (blood tests, urine tests, and more, which are usually billed separately)
• Clinic visits for treatments
• Procedures (for diagnosis or treatment, which can include room charges, equipment, doctors, pathologists, and more)
• Imaging tests (such as x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, which may mean that you’re billed separately for radiologist fees, equipment, and any medicines used in the test)
• Radiation treatments (implants, external radiation, or both)
• Drug costs (inpatient, outpatient, prescription, non-prescription, and procedure-related)
• Hospital stays (which can include many types of costs such as drugs, tests, and procedures as well as nursing care, doctor visits, and consults with specialists)
• Surgery (surgeon, anesthesiologist, pathologist, operating room fees, equipment, medicines, and more)
• Home care (can include equipment, drugs, visits from specially trained nurses, and more)

Cancer patients may feel unsure about bringing up money with their doctor while planning their cancer treatment. But ACS says cost is something patients should address up front. You can start by talking with the doctor who is treating you for cancer.  

If you spend any time socializing on the Internet, especially via Facebook, you're surely familiar with BuzzFeed, the website best-known for its “list” articles and various quizzes: Which spice are you? Which [character from popular book, movie or TV series] would you be?

Indeed, “BuzzFeed Quiz” has its own Facebook page with over 192,000 “likes.” Its most recent quizzes as of June 25 include which museum you should visit, what your favorite band in high school says about you (prediction: something flattering), and how likely you are to survive the “zombie apocalypse.”

In light of this, perhaps nobody should be surprised to hear what British e-commerce blogger Dan Barker announced on June 24: “BuzzFeed is watching you.”

How do they do that?

Barker identified two different ways BuzzFeed is doing that, which he labeled “The Mundane Bits” and “The Scary Bit.”

The “mundane” news is that, yeah — BuzzFeed is tracking you. Not that they're unique in this regard; the “Do Not Track” movement so far has proven spectacularly unpopular with advertising executives and the majority of websites and browsers.

Barker provided a screenshot of some code (which you probably won't know how to read unless you're very “good with computers”), explaining: “Here’s a snapshot of what BuzzFeed records when you land on a page. They actually record much more than this, but this is just the info they pass to Google (stored within Google Analytics).”

He then translated some of the code into English. Among other things, BuzzFeed is recording whether and how often you've visited their site before; whether you've connected Facebook and BuzzFeed; whether and how often you've shared BuzzFeed links via email, Twitter or other social media; which country you're in “and about 25 other pieces of information.”

Intrusive quizzes

Though all of this is, as Barker said, thoroughly “mundane” by Internet standards. The “scary bit” involves those ever-present quizzes:

Most quizzes are extremely benign – the stereotypical “Which [currently popular fictional TV show] Character Are You?” for example. But some of their quizzes are very specific, and very personal.

Here, for example, is a set of questions from a “How Privileged are You?” quiz, which has had 2,057,419 views at the time I write this. I’ve picked some of the questions that may cause you to think “actually, I wouldn’t necessarily want anyone recording my answers here”.

Among other things, those questions ask if you, the quiz-taker, have ever been treated or taken medication for mental health problems, suffered from learning disabilities, contemplated or attempted suicide, been raped or sexually assaulted, experienced racial discrimination, or felt dissatisfied with your gender or sexual identity.

As Barker wrote, “When you click any of those quiz answers, BuzzFeed record all of the mundane information we looked at earlier, plus they also record this:” followed by more code, an explanation of what it means and its implications:

In other words, if I had access to the BuzzFeed Google Analytics data, I could query data for people who got to the end of the quiz & indicated – by not checking that particular answer – that they have had an eating disorder. Or that they have tried to change their gender. Or I could run a query along the following lines if I wished:

Show me all the data for anyone who answered the “Check Your Privelege” quiz but did not check “I have never taken medication for my mental health”.

.... I suspect this particular quiz would have had less than 2 million views if everyone completing it realised every click was being recorded & could potentially be reported on later – whether that data is fully identifiable back to individual users, or pseudonymous, or even totally anonymous.

What do you think?

The response

Barker's blog post got enough attention that within a few hours of it going up, a BuzzFeed executive named Dao Nguyen posted this in the comments:

…. we do not in fact record that it is “you” browsing the site. The string sent to GA is not your username but an anonymized string that is not linked in any way to your account, email address or other personally identifiable information. Also, about 99% our readers are not even logged in.

We are only interested in data in the aggregate form. Who a specific user is and what he or she is doing on the site is actually a useless piece of information for us. We know how many people got Paris or prefer espresso in the Which city would you live in? quiz, but we don’t know who they are or any of their PII.

Yet other commenters on Barker's blog did not seem reassured by Nguyen's remarks. One man posted this in response: “Theoretically, how hard would it be for someone at Buzzfeed to connect someone to their Buzzfeed quiz answers?”

Another person asked Nguyen “If the 'username' string is NOT associated with the individual’s account, then why is the same username string used for two different sessions?” and “Can we interpret your final paragraph as meaning that none of your data analysis requires the username string in order to give you meaningful results? If “who a specific user is” is “useless” to you, then why bother including the username string in the GA data at all? If it’s useless, why not remove it? Contrariwise, if it is unremovable, for what use is it necessary?”

Update -- BuzzFeed responds

We anonymize all usage data and have strict internal policies around only accessing data in the aggregate form.

Background: 

The U.S. economy is shrinking at a rate faster than the government reported just a month ago.

The “third" estimate of first-quarter economic growth released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- declined at an annual rate of 2.9%.

GDP increased 2.6% in the final three months of 2013.

More data available

The new figure is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate, which showed GDP decreasing at an annual rate of 1.0%.

The downturn primarily reflected a downturn in exports, a larger decrease in private inventory investment, a deceleration in consumer spending, and declines in nonresidential fixed investment and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in federal government spending.

Inflation steady

The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.3% in the first quarter -- the same increase as in the second estimate. The index had risen 1.5% in the fourth quarter.

Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases was up 1.3% in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.8% in the fourth.  

The complete GDP report is available on the Commerce Department website.

Mortgage applications were down last week for a second straight week.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey shows applications dipped 1.0% during the week ending June 20.

The Refinance Index also fell 1% percent from the previous week to the lowest level since May 2014, with the refinance share of mortgage activity unchanged at 52% of total applications. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity held steady 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) fell to 4.33% from 4.36 percent, with points dropping to 0.18 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) was down 4 basis points -- from 4.32% to 4.28%, with points increasing to 0.12 from 0.09 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA dropped to 4.03% from 4.07%, with points rising to -0.38 from -0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate was lower than the week before.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs dipped 3 basis points to 3.47%, with points increasing to 0.19 from 0.16 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs rose to 3.23% from 3.20%, with points unchanged from 0.27 (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.

There's never really a good time to be the sort of person who believes that lions and tigers are just as harmless and cuddly as your own adorable pet puddytat. But this past week has been an usually badtime to be that sort of person.

First: lawmakers in New York state passed a bill, first proposed by state assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, that bans posing for photos with tigers or other big cats.

Rosenthal's bill is believed to be in response to the popular blog “Tinder Guys with Tigers” which -- as you probably guessed after reading the name -- is a blog, on Tinder, dedicated to photographs of guys (not girls) posing with tigers.

The bill passed the state legislature, though whether the governor will actually sign it into law remains to be seen.

Rosenthal told the New York Post that “They can still pose with bears and monkeys … They just have to take big cats off their list.”

The bill, which Rosenthal first proposed in March (though it remained largely unnoticed until the Post's recent story about it) is actually an amendment to state environmental conservation laws, and says: “The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new section 11-0538 to read as follows: S11-0538. DIRECT CONTACT BETWEEN PUBLIC AND BIG CATS PROHIBITED.”

Posing penalties

Anyone who violates the law can be fined $500 for the first offense and $1,000 subsequently, though from the way it's written, it's unclear whether the prohibitions and fines apply to the people who actually pose for photos with big cats, or the cat's “dealer” or “exhibitor.”

The bill says (in all-capital letters) that “It shall be unlawful for any person licensed or required to be licensed as an exhibitor or dealer pursuant to the animal welfare act, 7 USC 2132-2134, including agents or employees of such person, to knowingly allow the public to have direct contact with a big cat. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for the first offense and not more than one thousand dollars for a second and subsequent offenses.”

But the bill only mentions “dealers” and “exhibitors,” not “ordinary people who pose for photos, whether posted on Tinder or not.”

The bill applies to tigers, leopards, lions, mountain lions/cougars, panthers, jaguars “or any hybrid of such species.”

Tennessee ban

If the bill is signed into law, it will effect every big-cat-lover in New York State. But the other piece of big-cat-ban-related news from this week, out of Tennessee, applies to only one person: the unidentified woman who was banned for life from the Memphis Zoo after she climbed into the lion enclosure in an attempt to feed cookies to its inmates.

Zoo spokeswoman Abbey Dane said it was the second time in a week that the woman had attempted to feed cookies to the lions. “Last week she was noticed by our security staff throwing objects into the lion exhibit; at that time she was asked to leave the zoo ….[this time] She was asked to leave the zoo permanently. She will not be granted access to the zoo anymore.”

Stile Products of Lakewood, Calif., is recalling about 670 Tern folding bicycles in the U.S. and Canada.

The bike’s frame can crack at the hinge on the top tube, posing a fall hazard.

No incidents or injuries reported in the U.S. The firm has received 11 reports of the bicycle frames cracking including five reports of minor scrapes and bruises from outside the U.S.

The recall involves Link Uno, Link D7i, Link D8, Link P9, Link P7i, and Link P24h models of Tern brand adult folding bikes. These six models were sold in black/blue, black/green, black/grey, black/red dark grey/light grey, grey/orange and white/pink color combinations. “Tern” is printed on the front end of the top tube and on other portions of the frame. The model name is printed on the middle of the top tube.

Recalled bicycles have a 10-character alphanumeric serial number that begin with either AI1133 through AI1137 or AI1151 through AI1213 stamped on the bottom bracket shell of the bike. An alphanumeric service tag number is located on the front of the seat tube and this number can be used to determine if the bicycle is affected by going to the firm’s website www.ternbicycles.com.

The bicycles, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at authorized Stile/Tern dealers nationwide from November 2011, to April 2014, for between $600 and $1250.

Consumers should immediately stop using the bicycles and contact Stile Products or take the bike to an authorized dealer. Consumers will receive a free replacement frame and have it installed at no cost or they can upgrade their bike to one of three designated models at an additional cost.

Consumers may contact Stile Products toll-free at (888) 570-8376 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

Plenty of well-known adults have gotten into hot water by texting photos of themselves in various stages of undress. The practice is known as sexting.

These adults have found themselves in rather embarrassing situations because of their lack of judgment when the photographs became public. But when teens under 18 engage in sexting, the danger goes beyond embarrassment.

It can be a felony. A serious felony.

Possessing nude or partially nude photographs of children in suggestive poses – and in the eyes of the law people under 18 are children – is considered child pornography in many jurisdictions. People go to jail for it every day.

Making matters worse, sexting among underage youth is very common. A new study by researchers at Drexel University and found just how common.

Disturbing findings

According to the study, more than 50% of those surveyed admitted that they had exchanged sexually explicit text messages, with or without photographic images, as minors.

The researchers further discovered that the majority of these young people – many as young as 10 -- are not aware of the legal ramifications of what they're doing.

The overwhelming majority, in fact, were completely unaware that many jurisdictions consider sexting among minors – particularly when it involves harassment or other aggravating factors – to be child pornography, an offense that can result in prosecution.

The ramifications are severe. Get convicted and you could face jail time and a requirement to register as a sex offender. Researcher David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, calls it a scary and disturbing combination.

“Given the harsh legal penalties sometimes associated with youth sexting and the apparent frequency with which youth are engaging in it, the lack of comprehension regarding such penalties poses a significant problem,” he said.

The study, entitled “Youth Sexting: Prevalence Rates, Driving Motivations, and the Deterrent Effect of Legal Consequences,” was published online in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy.

A warning to teens

Parents' groups are not unaware of the problem and the potential danger to teens and pre-teens. Teens of America, a non-profit group founded to educate young people on the dangers of substance abuse and crime, is also focused on the dangers of teen sexting.

It produced the video below to help drive home the point.

Never assume

“You should never assume that anything your send or post will remain private,” said Cyndi Wheless, a juvenile court judge interviewed in the video.

What happens if a child is the recipient of a sexting image or message? Wheless says the child should delete it and tell their parents. Forwarding it to another friend makes the child just as guilty as the person who originated the message.

In the case of sexting, knowledge of the consequences appears to make a difference. The Drexel study found that those who were aware of the potential legal consequences engaged in sexting as minors much less than those who were not.

At the same time, most of the young people who reported being unaware of the potential legal consequences of sexting said they may not have engaged in sexting as a minor if they had known.

It's official -- in New York pets can now spend the afterlife with their owners, same time same place. That's IF you want to be buried in a pet cemetery.

The state has formally adopted regulations proposed last fall allowing pet cemeteries to accept the cremated remains of people who literally want to be with their pets forever ... and ever. Under the regulation, which takes effect in August, pet cemeteries can accept the remains but cannot charge a fee for a human burial and can not advertise their human burial services.

A pet cemetery in Westchester County has been burying people with their pets since the 1920's and they were faced with a 3-year dispute involving a former NYPD officer, Thomas Ryan, who wanted to spend his afterlife with his three Maltese pups.

The state did not want the cemetery to accept his ashes. The Hartsdale cemetery, which claims to be the oldest final pet resting place in the nation, already had accepted the remains of Ryan's wife, Bunny, beside the couple's three Maltese dogs, named DJ 1, DJ 2 and DJ 3.

Good thing the officer had a smart niece. She is an upstate attorney and she battled the state to allow her uncle to be buried with the dogs and his wife. Bureaucrats fought the idea but eventually conceded and allowed the Hartsdale cemetery to accept human remains, but the state's remaining pet cemeteries were still banned from doing so.

With the adoption of the new regulation, pet owners from all over the state will be able to spend eternity with their four legged BFFs.

The International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories estimates that there are around 400 pet cemeteries in the nation; some allow the burial of cremated human remains, and some do not.

Each county, city, and, ultimately, the pet cemetery itself, decides if they will accept humans lying side by side with their pets. Although regardless of where one chooses to be buried, it’s always a good idea to specify that choice in a will. The last thing you want is your relatives arguing that you wanted a human cemetery not a pet cemetery.

For years, Hydroxycut branded products were marketed as dietary supplements to promote weight loss, as fat burners, as energy enhancers, as low-carb diet aids, and for water loss under the Iovate and MuscleTech brand names.

Among the complaints ConsumerAffairs received about the supplements was this one in 2009 from Donyale, of Middletown, Conn., who professed to be a Hydroxycut user, off and on, over 3 years.

“I had abnormal liver function,” Donyale wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “The year was 2001. The consequence is extreme pain on my right side. It’s so severe that I couldn't move. There’s frequent side pain.”

Donyale was not alone. In 2009, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers to immediately stop using Hydroxycut products after getting reports of serious liver injuries. At the same time, Iovate Health Sciences, the manufacturer, agreed to recall Hydroxycut products from the market.

Serious health problems

The FDA said it had received 23 reports of serious health problems ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes, an indicator of potential liver injury, to liver damage requiring liver transplant. One death due to liver failure was been reported to the FDA.

Other health problems reported include seizures, cardiovascular disorders, and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to other serious health problems such as kidney failure.

At about that time the products were the subject of two class-action lawsuits, filed in Canada and the United States, charging Iovate Health Sciences of failing to warn consumers the drugs could be harmful to liver function and have other potential side effects.

Settlement terms

One of the suits has now been settled and consumers who bought the products may be entitled to choose either a cash refund or free products by submitting a claim.

The litigation claimed the products were misrepresented as clinically proven to be safe and effective for weight loss and Iovate Health Sciences, which denies the allegations, has elected to settle.

“The Settlement Class includes all persons who purchased one of the following Hydroxycut weight loss products in the United States between May 9, 2006 and May 1, 2009,” the company said in a statement.

The products

• Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
• Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
• Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
• Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Caplets
• Hydroxycut Hardcore RTDs (Ready-to-Drink)
• Hydroxycut Max Liquid Caplets
• Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed
• Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut 24, Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Carb Control, Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
• Hydroxycut Natural

Personal injury claims separate

The settlement does not include anyone with a personal injury claim arising from the use of one of the above listed products. It only covers the economic loss for the purchase of the products.

The settlement sets up a fund of $14 million – minus paintiffs' attorneys fees and administrative costs. Consumers who are members of the class may choose either a cash payment or a free product.

To file a claim consumers must submit a claim form online or by mail by January 13, 2015. Consumers may get a form, along with additional information, here.

If you have a credit or debit card and use it to actually pay for things, you already know there's a high risk some thief has your account information after that database security breach. The only question is, which database did thieves hack into this time?

In the past few months, hackers and identity theives have successfully breached database security at AT&T, P.F. Chang's restaurants, Domino's Pizza (European subsidiaries), Target, Sally Beauty Supply, eBay and PayPal, the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the data broker/credit monitoring agency Experian, among others.

The newest addition to that list appears to be various locations of Splash Car Wash throughout Connecticut and the northeast. Security blogger Brian Krebs reported the breach on June 23, to illustrate how even a small car wash in an obscure, out-of-the-way New England town can be snared by a complicated nationwide criminal web.

A spreading web

Police in Everett, Mass., recently arrested a man in possession of multiple gift cards loaded with stolen credit card numbers that belonged to people ranging from New Hampshire and Connecticut to South Carolina.

Police in Boston realized this all had something to do with a hospitalized robbery suspect in their jurisdiction, and then the United States Secret Service got involved. If you think this sounds complicated you're absolutely right, and this is only the super-simplified version of the story.

As Krebs said, “In effect, thieves were buying stolen cards to finance the purchase of gift cards, some of which would later serve as hosts for new stolen card data once their balance was exhausted. The cops call it money laundering, but in this case it might as well be called card washing.”

From the perspective of a company with a hackable database of customer credit cards — whether that company is a small chain of car washes, or a giant multinational corporation — determining that your system has, in fact, been hacked is often quite difficult.

Discovering the theft

Databases are entirely different from buildings, after all. If a burglar broke into your home and stole your stuff, that would be immediately obvious for two reasons: one, you'd see the broken door latch or shattered window or other entry point he used to smash his way in; and two, whatever he stole is now gone — you know he grabbed your TV set and jewelry box because you don't have them anymore.

But none of this applies when stealing information from a database. Granted, it's relatively easy for an individual credit card holder to know a thief's using her account number: unauthorized charges start appearing on your bill. So it's obvious the information was stolen; what's not obvious is where and how.

Finding the answer usually requires the credit card companies or issuing banks to find the “point of sale compromise” where the security breach happened: look at the recent buying histories of all cardholders with recently breached accounts, and see what business or bureaucracy they all have in common.

The Sally Beauty breach, for example, first came to light last March after investigators found a list of 280,000 stolen credit-card numbers for sale in an “underground crime store,” and discovered that every single one of those compromised accounts had recently bought something at a Sally Beauty store.

Michael Levey, one of the Massachusetts police detectives investigating the recent Splash security breach, told Krebs that the masterminds behind the recent Splash Car Wash breach are not foreign hackers in Russia or eastern Europe, but members of homegrown American street gangs.

“All these kids [involved in the Splash breach] are Blood gang members, tattooed up or self-admitted,” Lavey said. “And they’re starting to work smarter, not harder. Individually, this card fraud doesn’t meet the threshold where the federal government is going to say ‘Hey, let’s grab these guys.’ Locally, they’re doing it across broad jurisdictions and jumping from state to state and coming away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.” …. Given how easy it is to buy stolen cards, encode them onto gift cards and then use those cards to buy goods in big-box stores that can be easily resold for cash, Lavey said he wonders why old-fashioned bank robberies are still a problem.

“Honestly, the fact that we still have bank robberies is sort of perplexing,” he said. “Rob a bank and you’re lucky if you get away with $600. But you can rob a credit card company and all the banks are afraid to have their name associated with a case like this, and they quickly reimburse the victims. And most of the retailers are so afraid of having their name in the press associated with credit card fraud and data breaches that make the job doubly hard for us.”

Consumers are more confident about the economy than they've been in a long time.

According to The Conference Board, its Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in May, improved again this month and now stands at 85.2 -- up 3 points from the previous month.

The Present Situation Index increased to 85.1 from 80.3, while the Expectations Index rose to 85.2 from 83.5 in May.

“Consumer confidence continues to advance and the index is now at its highest level since January 2008 (87.3),” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “June’s increase was driven primarily by improving current conditions, particularly consumers’ assessment of business conditions. Expectations regarding the short-term outlook for the economy and jobs were moderately more favorable, while income expectations were a bit mixed. Still, the momentum going forward remains quite positive.”

How they see it

Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions improved in June. Those saying business conditions are “good” increased to 23.0% from 21.1%, while those saying they are “bad” decreased to 22.8% from 24.6%.

Consumers’ assessment of the job market was also more favorable. Those who think jobs are “plentiful” edged up to 14.7% from 14.2%, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” declined to 31.8% from 32.2%.

Consumers’ expectations were generally more positive in June. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 18.8% from 17.7%. However, those expecting business conditions to worsen increased to 11.4% from 10.7%.

Consumers were more positive about the outlook for the labor market. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead rose to 16.3% from 15.2%, while those anticipating fewer jobs edged down to 18.7% from 18.9%.

Fewer consumers expect their incomes to grow, 15.9% versus 18.0%, but those expecting a drop in their incomes also declined -- to 12.1% from 14.5%.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was June 13.

New single-family home sales soared in May to their highest level in 6 years.

Figures released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show sales soared 18.6% in May to an annual rate of 504,000. That's the first time the rate has topped 500,000 since May 2008.

The consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com was for an annual rate of 440,000.

The report shows demand was strong throughout the U.S., led by a sales increase of 54.4% in the Northeast and a 34% jump in the West.

Analysts note that the May surge came as interest rates moved lower, and expressed concern that higher rates could stunt future sales growth.

Prices and inventory

The median sales price of new houses sold in May was $282,000 -- up $12,300 from April. The median is the point at which half the prices are higher and half are lower. The average sales price, however, slipped $1,700 to $319,200.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 189,000, roughly a supply of 4.5 months at the current sales rate.

The complete sales report is available on the Commerce Department website.

U.S. home prices were higher again in April, but the year-to-year gains were sharply lower.

Data released by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted annual gains of 10.8% --- a much slower rate when compared with the previous month.

Nineteen of the 20 cities saw lower annual gains in April than in March.

California (Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco) saw their returns worsen by approximately 3 percentage points. Boston was the only city to see its annual rate improve.

The 10-City and 20-City Composites increased 1.0% and 1.1% in April. Seven cities -- Cleveland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and San Francisco -- reported lower returns than in March. Boston rose 2.9% -- its largest monthly gain in over its 27 years of history. San Francisco rose 2.3% -- its sixth consecutive price increase.

The move upward continues

“Although home prices rose in April, the annual gains weakened,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Overall, prices are rising month-to-month but at a slower rate. Last year some Sunbelt cities were seeing year-over-year numbers close to 30%, now all are below 20%: Las Vegas (18.8%), Los Angeles (14.0%), Phoenix (9.8%), San Diego (15.3%) and San Francisco (18.2%). Other cities around the nation are also experiencing slower price increases.”

While the annual numbers worsened, the monthly figures were seasonally strong. Five cities -- Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle -- reported monthly gains of 2% or more. Dallas and Denver gained 1.6% and continue to set new peaks. Boston and Charlotte are less than 10% away from their peaks.

“Near term economic factors favor further gains in housing: mortgage rates are lower than a year ago, the Fed is expected to keep interest rates steady until mid-2015 and the labor market is improving,” Blitzer added. "However, housing is not back to normal: prices are being supported by cash sales, low inventories and declining foreclosure and REO sales. First time home buyers are not back in force and qualifying for a mortgage remains challenging. The question is whether housing will bounce back before the Fed begins to tighten sometime next year.”

Positive annual gains

All cities continue to post positive year-over-year returns. Boston was the only city to show improvement in its annual rate, going from 8.3% in March to 9.0% in April. After posting 13 months of annual gains of over 20%, San Francisco saw its rate dip below 20%. 

In April, all cities saw prices increase, with 12 cities reporting higher returns than last month.

Boston gained the most with an increase of 2.9%, its highest month-over-month gain. San Francisco and Seattle trailed at +2.3%.

At the bottom of the list, New York gained only 0.1%. Dallas and Denver continue to set new peaks while Detroit remains the only city below its January 2000 value.

FHFA price report

​Separately, however, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) says its monthly House Price Index (HPI) showed no change in U.S. house prices from March to April.

The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages either sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

From April 2013 to April 2014, house prices were up 5.9%. Still, the index is 6.9% below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the July 2005 index level.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from March 2014 to April 2014 ranged from -1.3% in the New England division to +0.6% in the East South Central division.

The 12-month changes were all positive ranging from +1.7% in the Middle Atlantic division to +10.7% in the Pacific division.

The full report is available on the FHFA website.

With the arrival of summer, pets are likely to be spending a lot more time out of doors. And that can lead to confrontations with fleas and ticks.

More than an itchy annoyance to some dogs and cats, flea bites can cause flea allergy dermatitis -- an allergic reaction to proteins in flea saliva. And a pet’s constant scratching can cause permanent hair loss or other skin problems. Anemia and -- in rare cases – death can be a result of fleas feasting on a pet's blood.

Ticks can also harm your pet, transmitting infections such as Lyme disease. And, even worse, pets can bring ticks into the home, exposing you and your family to illness from a tick bite.

Hundreds of pesticides, repellents, and growth inhibitors are available to protect your pet from flea and tick bites. Some of these products are available only from a veterinarian; others can be bought over the counter.

A multitude of products

Flea and tick products range from pills given by mouth to collars, sprays, dips, shampoos, powders and “spot-ons” -- liquid products squeezed onto the dog’s or cat’s skin usually between the shoulder blades or down the back. A few spot-on products are available for flea control in ferrets, and fly and tick control in horses.

Pet owners need to be cautious about using flea and tick products safely. According to Ann Stohlman, V.M.D., a veterinarian in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine, “You need to take the time to carefully read the label, the package insert, and any accompanying literature to make sure you’re using the product correctly.”

Flea and Tick product regulation

Both the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulate flea and tick products for pets.

FDA is responsible for regulating animal drugs; however, some products to control external parasites come under the jurisdiction of EPA. The agencies work together to ensure adherence to all applicable laws and regulations. In general, flea and tick products that are given orally or by injection are regulated by FDA.

Before an animal drug is allowed on the market, FDA must “approve” it. Before a pesticide can be marketed, EPA must “register” it.

Both base their decisions on a thorough review of detailed information on the product’s safety and effectiveness provided by the manufacturer or other product sponsor. The sponsor must show that the drug or pesticide meets current safety standards to protect:

• the animal
• people in contact with the animal
• the environment

The sponsor must also show that the drug or pesticide produces the claimed effect, and the product must carry specific labeling so that it can be used according to the directions and precautions.

When to treat

It's best to treat your pet at the beginning of flea and tick season, says Stohlman. The length of flea season, which peaks during warm weather months, varies depending on where you live.

“It can last four months in some places, but in other places, like Florida, fleas can live all year long,” says Stohlman. And fleas can live inside a warm house year-round no matter where you live.

Ticks are found in some places year-round. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in most parts of the U.S., the greatest chance of infection by a tick bite is spring and summer.

What to do

• Read the label carefully before use. If you don't understand the wording, ask your veterinarian or call the manufacturer. “Even if you’ve used the product many times before,” says Stohlman, “read the label because the directions or warnings may have changed.”
• Follow the directions exactly. If the product is for dogs, don't use it on cats or other pets. If the label says use weekly, don't use it daily. If the product is for the house or yard, don't put it directly on your pet.
• Keep multiple pets separated after applying a product until it dries to prevent one animal from grooming another and ingesting a drug or pesticide.
• Talk to your veterinarian before using a product on weak, old, medicated, sick, pregnant, or nursing pets, or on pets that have previously shown signs of sensitivity to flea or tick products.
• Monitor your pet for side effects after applying the product, particularly when using the product on your pet for the first time.
• If your pet experiences a bad reaction from a spot-on product, immediately bathe the pet with mild soap, rinse with large amounts of water, and call your veterinarian.
• Call your veterinarian if your pet shows symptoms of illness after using a product. Symptoms of poisoning include poor appetite, depression, vomiting, diarrhea, or excessive salivation.
• Do not apply a product to kittens or puppies unless the label specifically allows this treatment. Use flea combs to pick up fleas, flea eggs, and ticks on puppies and kittens that are too young for flea and tick products.
• Wash your hands immediately with soap and water after applying a product, or use protective gloves while applying.
• Store products away from food and out of children's reach.

Reporting problems

Keep the product package after use in case side effects occur. You will want to have the instructions available, as well as contact information for the manufacturer.

To report problems with spot-on flea or tick products, contact the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at 1-800-858-7378.

To report problems with FDA approved flea or tick drug products, contact the drug manufacturer directly (see contact information on product labeling) or report to FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine on a Form FDA 1932a.

If your pet needs immediate medical care, call your local veterinarian, a local animal emergency clinic, or the National Animal Poison Control Center at 1-888-426-4435. The NAPCC charges a fee for consultation.

At a time when millions of consumers are struggling to keep gasoline in their vehicles, two United States Senators – a Republican and a Democrat – have proposed raising the federal gasoline tax 12 cents a gallon – an increase of nearly 65%.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) are winning praise for their bold proposal in an election year. But chances are none of that praise is coming from the growing number of consumers who struggle to make ends meet.

The average price of self-serve regular these days is $3.68 a gallon, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey. It's nearly a dime more than consumers were paying a year ago and 37 cents higher than at the start of the year.

Consumers aren't exactly getting raises at work, so another increase in gas prices – 6 cents a year for 2 years – is going to make a dent in the wallet. So the question has to be asked: Are Corker and Murphy out of their minds?

Highway fund running out of money

The two lawmakers make what they say is a rational argument for the tax hike. The gasoline tax revenue goes into a fund to pay for highway construction and maintenance and they point out the fund is nearly broke.

The gasoline tax – 18.5 cents a gallon – hasn't been raised since 1993. Looked at that way, perhaps it isn't unreasonable to conclude that the tax should be raised to cover the cost of the roads that motorists use.

What seems to have been overlooked, however, is the extremely regressive nature of the gasoline tax and what raising it could do to consumers – and the economy.

High income drivers will have no trouble absorbing a higher price for gasoline. On the other hand, it's going to be a problem for a single mom who hasn't had a raise in 4 years. Could there be some way to cushion the blow for her?

Budgetary footwork

In an effort to prevent the tax increase from being seen as a tax increase, Corker and Murphy propose to restore some unnamed tax breaks that are scheduled for elimination. But Forbes' Howard Gleckman says that won't cut it.

“Thus, instead of moving cash from the general fund to the highway fund, they’d reduce the amount of money the general fund collects in the first place,” Gleckman writes. “The effect on federal borrowing is exactly the same.”

And there's an added problem. The tax burden has shifted to consumers who drive – including the single mom. Is she likely to benefit from those restored tax breaks? Don't count on it.

The problem, it seems, is that the price of gasoline has less to do with supply and demand and more to do with what the market will bear. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated in 2009 the real costs of producing a barrel of oil was around $52. The current price is north of $106.

When gasoline prices reached their record highs – over $4 a gallon – in 2008 the market established where the breaking point was. It's probably no accident that the prices haven't fallen too far below that since.

State gasoline taxes

Besides the current federal gasoline tax each state also levies its own gasoline tax, and in nearly every case the state tax far exceeds the federal levy. That's partly responsible for the wide swing in prices from state to state.

According to the American Petroleum Institute California adds nearly 53 cents a gallon to the price of gas while New York adds 42 cents. South Carolina, meanwhile, tacks on less than 18 cents – one of the only states with a tax lower than the federal rate.

Would the states cut their tax rate to offset a federal tax hike? Again, don't count on it. Most states have budget crises of their own.

The good news for drivers is that, in an election year the gas tax hike proposal is probably going nowhere. The bad news, however, is that gasoline prices – tax hike or no tax hike – will continue to go up.