Current Events in August 2014

You would think that with kids returning to school in less that 2 weeks (or in some cases already back in the classroom), most folks would have wrapped up their back-to-school shopping.

Think again.

According to the National Retail federations (NRF) latest Back-to-School/College Surveys, conducted by Prosper Insights, the average family with children in grades K-12 completed just half (49.9%) of their shopping by mid-August -- down slightly from last year (52.1%).

And why, you might ask, would that be? The prospect of bargains.

“As the shopping season draws to a close, budget-conscious parents are likely hoping that end-of-summer sales and promotions will be just what they need to wrap up their school lists,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “Much of the delay this summer could also stem from families holding out for a sales tax holiday in their state, as well as from influential teenagers who want to first see what their friends are buying before they ask mom and dad to commit to their fall needs.”

According to the survey, as of August 12, fewer families had taken advantage of retailers’ special school savings opportunities. Specifically, one-quarter (23.6%) had not started shopping yet, compared with 20.9% last year. However, there were some who were eager to get started as they looked to spread out their spending: 15.7% say they have wrapped things up, about the same as last year.

College families on the other hand, got a good jump on retailers’ sales and promotions this summer. More than 23% say they are completely finished with their lists, versus 20% last year. Additionally, slightly fewer families this year say they haven’t started shopping (26.2% vs. 28.8% last year.)

Cost cutting

Hoping to trim the costs where they can, some back-to-school shoppers made it a point to look for coupons and sales while scouring for new footwear, supplies, electronic items and apparel. And, according to the most recent survey, 15.2% of back-to-school shoppers said all of their purchases were influenced by coupons, sales and promotions -- the most since 2011; 14.8% of college students and their families say 76-99% of their shopping was influenced by coupons, also the highest for that range in the survey’s history.

In July, NRF found eight in 10 (81.1%) families with children in grades K-12 said the state of the economy would affect their school spending in some way; seven out of 10 (77.2%) college students and their families agreed.

Shopping habits

When asked what payment method back-to-school families used most often to purchase school necessities, 44.9% say they have or will use their debit cards more than cash (24.9%) and credit cards (27.9%). College students and their families have or will use debit cards (43.4%), followed by credit cards (33.7%) and cash (18.9%).

To wrap up their lists, most back-to-school shoppers will shop at discount (54%), department (47.7%) and clothing stores (35%), and online (24.8%). One-third (33.7%) will visit an office supply store and 10 percent will shop local and support small business.

Back-to-college shoppers will finish their shopping at discount (47.4%), department (40.3%) and clothing stores (26.8%). The most in the survey’s history -- 37.4% -- will fill their lists online.

School requirements

To gauge the level of influence a school may have on both back-to-school and college shoppers’ intentions to buy supplies and/or electronics, NRF asked parents this year about specific course/school requirements.

According to the survey, nearly one in five parents (18.2%) say that 100% of their back-to-college electronics purchases were influenced by course/school requirements.

For back-to-school families, whose lists often include supplies needed for the classroom, 21% of parents say that all of the supplies they buy are influenced by classroom and school requirements. When it comes to electronics, 16.4% said that every electronic item they buy is influenced by classroom lists and school requirements.

“As schools looks to parents more and more to help fund classroom needs, parents are looking for as many ways as they can to cut costs, and that could very well be why we’re seeing more people seek out coupons and sales this summer,” said Prosper Insights Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “Low prices at the end of the season will definitely drive more college and school families to shop last minute, especially for those with specific items they need in order to start the school year.”

Initial applications for jobless claims have fallen below 300,000 for the third time in 5 weeks.

Figures released by the Labor Department (DOL) put first-time requests for state unemployment benefits during the week ending August 16 at a seasonally adjusted 298,000 -- a drop of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level of 312,000. The consensus estimated in Briefing.com's survey was for a decline to 308,000.

While the DOL says there were no “special factors” affecting this week's number, analysts point out that the auto industry did shut down for retooling during the summer months the way it has in the past.

When production trends return to their historical averages, they speculate, the initial claims level will bounce back toward its previous range of 310,000 - 320,000.

The 4-week moving average, which smooths out the volatility of the weekly number and is considered a more accurate gauge of the labor market, was up 4,750 to 300,750.

The complete report is available on the DOL website.

Chrysler Group is recalling 15,956 model year 2014 Jeep Cherokee and Ram 1500 and 2015 Chrysler 200 vehicles. Due to an insufficient weld, the rear shocks may detach from the vehicle at one end and possibly damage other chassis components, the tire or result in reduced braking. Damage to the tire or reduced braking increases the risk of a vehicle crash.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rear shocks and replace any affected ones, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in August 2014.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is P37.

Big changes are coming to Google: the company intends to officially make its accounts available to children under 13, with parental permission and control. An anonymous source at Google said that the company's been also working on a children-only version of YouTube that would allow parents to control what content their children can upload or see.

The subscription-only tech news site The Information first reported the news on Monday morning, and the Wall Street Journal tech blog gave it greater exposure later that afternoon.

Of course, it's already very easy for under-13s to open accounts with Google, Facebook or any other free social media, by simply lying about their age when they sign up.

In general, social media companies don't let openly acknowledged under-13s have accounts because of COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which basically says that where children are concerned, companies and businesses may not collect the same vast amount of information they do on their adult users. However, COPPA doesn't apply to account-holders who lied about their ages.

Advocates concerned

Privacy advocates have of course expressed concern about Google's plan to offer children's accounts; the Journal quoted Jeff Chester, executive director of the online-privacy group Center for Digital Democracy, as saying “Unless Google does this right it will threaten the privacy of millions of children and deny parents the ability to make meaningful decisions about who can collect information on their kids.”

On the other hand, when the Consumerist blog reported the news, it asked “Google’s plan to let kids have accounts: bad idea or acknowledgement of reality?” and reminded its readers what everyone knows already: plenty of kids already have such accounts, since it's ridiculously easy for people of any age to type dishonesties on the Internet. (Consider: “I'm a 19-year-old man who is royal heir to the Norwegian throne, and also the world's going to end in December 2012” — there's not a grain of truth to be found in that sentence, yet I had zero difficulty typing out that statement and publishing it online.)

In all seriousness, there's a definite argument to be made that, since so many underage kids are going to socialize online anyway, the best thing to do is be open about it, so parents can oversee their activities and protect their kids from making bad choices.

No precedent

Unfortunately, determining the “right” Internet and social-media policy for your kids might be the single most difficult child-rearing issue for modern parents to figure out, because you can't look back to your own childhood for ideas, the way you can for most parenting decisions: “What time should my kids go to bed? Let me think – what was my bedtime at their age?” or “How much TV could I watch?” or “Adjusted for inflation, how much spending money did I have?”

But try to remember what social-media policies your parents imposed when you were your kids' ages, and chances are the answer is “None, because the Internet as we know it didn't exist, and neither did social media.” Even the telephone-use parenting policies of the landline era don't really apply to smartphones: in the old days, about the worst damage an unsupervised kid could do with a phone was run up a high long-distance bill, or make a few prank calls. Meeting unsavory strangers was very unlikely, and posting something visible to the whole world that will follow you the rest of our life was impossible.

On the other hand, parents do need to figure something out, because in today's world, “safe and responsible online conduct” is a life skill all children will need to master, long before they reach official full-fledged adulthood.

Maybe a G-rated and strictly controlled “walled garden” for kids is a good place for them to start learning.

Some people are constant clock-watchers on the job, eager for the end to the work day. Others are usually the last to leave the office, losing track of time as they delve deeper into whatever they're working on.

Members of the latter group are usually called workaholics, unable or unwilling to shift their focus from their work to other parts of their lives. What's behind this obsession?

That's what Cecilie Schou Andreassen and colleagues at the University of Bergen, in Norway, wanted to find out. It's not like work addiction is a new phenomenon – it's been the object of study for at least 4 decades.

Schou Andreassen wanted to find out how many true workaholics are among us and in that area, the research is thin. The field primarily relies on limited measures used in small non-representative samples from the U.S.

7 signs

For her study, which appears in the journal PLOS One, Schou Andreassen and her research team have identified 7 criteria to measure work addiction – 7 ways you can tell if you are a workaholic.

First, you think of ways you can free up time so you can work more. This is the exact opposite of most people, who look for ways to increase leisure or family time.

You put in more hours than you expected. For example, you plan to stop off at the office on a Saturday to pick up a folder but don't leave until hours later, unable to walk away from an unfinished project.

You find work is a great outlet. When you are working, you feel less guilt, anxiety or depression.

People are always commenting on your great work habits, expressing admiration but telling you to take more time for yourself. You always ignore their advice.

You get upset if something prevents your from working. You might be working at home on the weekend when a power outage stops your work, making your feel stressed.

You give up hobbies and leisure activities you once enjoyed because you now consider them an intrusion into your work time.

Finally, your commitment to work begins to affect your health. You don't get enough exercise or eat right, because you are always grabbing something from the vending machine and eating at your desk.

“If you reply ‘often’ or ‘always’ to at least 4 of these 7 criteria, there is some indication that you may be a workaholic,” Schou Andreassen said. “This is the first scale to use core symptoms of addiction found in other more traditional addictions.”

In a completely unrelated survey, TripAdvisor has released a survey of workers and found that 77% said they had worked while on vacation in the last year. Five percent said they really enjoyed it, suggesting that group might be defined as workaholic.

Young adults most affected

The Norwegian study found, as a whole, 8.3% of its subjects appear to be addicted to work. Both men and women tend to equally compulsively overwork. But there was one distinction.

“We did find that younger adults were affected to a greater extent than older workers,” said Schou Andreassen. “However, workaholism seems unrelated to gender, education level, marital status or part-time versus full-time employment.”

Another distinction was people with children living at home were more likely to be workaholics than those without children.

Why study it?

One possible reason work addiction doesn't get the attention of, say, meth addiction, is that being addicted to work isn't always viewed as such a negative thing. But like other addictions, it can interfere with relationships.

But the workaholic is essentially being more productive. Isn't that a good thing? Ebeneezer Scrooge was a workaholic, and that didn't work out too well for the people around him.

Dr. Barbara Killinger, writing in Psychology Today, sees the dark side of work addiction. Most workaholics are displaying an ambition, she believes, rooted in the search for power.

“Power is the seductive mistress that lures workaholics whose obsessive and compulsive focus is increasingly on work related goals that take them away from personal and professional responsibilities to family, friends, colleagues and staff,” she writes. “The acquisition of money and worldly goods can be a showcase of power and influence, or the individual may chose a more private lifestyle to avoid the envy or resentment of others.”

Schou Andreassen points out that workaholism may have contradictory psychological, physiological, and social outcomes. She would like to see more awareness of it among employers and health professionals.

“As workaholism is not a formal diagnosis the development of treatment models and real treatment offers has been lacking,” she said.

An airplane in Tel Aviv had to be evacuated earlier this week after the lithium-ion battery powering a passenger's iPhone 5 caught on fire, filling the cabin with smoke.

Gizmodo India reports that “It is well within the realms of possibility that it could be a third party or unauthorized battery in the device that may have caused the incident.”

Using third-party (as opposed to manufacturer-approved) batteries or chargers in smartphones and other lithium-battery-powered devices is indeed dangerous. As early as 2005, the feds were issuing warnings about the fire hazards of lithium batteries, and advised consumers to never use incompatible cell phone batteries and chargers.

In 2004, a California teenager suffered second-degree burns when her cell phone caught on fire without warning; a local fire investigator said the phone suddenly burst into “fist-sized flames,” and suspected that an overheating lithium battery was to blame.

Danger goes unheeded

Unfortunately, even nine years later, many people remain completely unaware of such dangers. Just last month, a 13-year-old in Texas had her bedding catch on fire after the third-party battery in her smartphone overheated and started smoldering. Luckily, she wasn't hurt and, while the fire did destroy her bed and bedding, it was extinguished before it could spread to the rest of the house.

The problem is not limited to smartphones, with or without manufacturer-approved batteries. Bulk shipments of any lithium batteries on passenger flights have been banned since 2004, because when bulk piles of such batteries catch on fire, that fire is very difficult to put out (especially on an in-flight airplane).

In 2007, the feds considered new restrictions for transporting lithium batteries on airplanes, but said at the time it had no plans to prohibit passengers from carrying battery-operated devices with them; only checked baggage and cargo would be affected.

Other hazards

Other lithium-ion battery products have proved to be fire hazards over the past few months. Last February, Bombardier Recreational Products recalled over 1,600 pairs of heated gloves and their rechargeable batteries, because the batteries could overheat and cause a fire hazard. A week earlier, Lucent Ace recalled some of its LED flashlights because their lithium batteries could short out, rupturing their canisters and burning their owners.

Certain brands of e-cigarette batteries have also either caught fire or exploded. In March, fire marshals in Oregon blamed e-cigs for two nighttime fires: the batteries overheated while recharging. That's why anyone who uses e-cigarettes (or any other rechargeable electronic device, for that matter) should never leave their devices plugged in overnight, or when nobody is home.

So what can you do to keep yourself and your house safe from such fire hazards? The three most important pieces of advice are: always use manufacturer-approved batteries and chargers for your smartphone, laptop, tablet or any other device; never leave the devices plugged in overnight or while you're away; and, especially while the devices are turned on, do not cover them with blankets, pillows or anything else capable of restricting airflow and preventing heat from dissipating.

(That's why the teenager in Texas had her phone catch fire last month: not only was it powered by a third-party battery, but the girl took it to bed with her and over the course of the night, it somehow ended up under her pillow.)

You should also keep an eye out for recalls of any other lithium-battery products, to make sure none of them apply to things you've bought.

And remember that, as of last month, all flyers in American airspace are required to have their smartphones, laptops and other battery-operated devices fully charged and capable of being turned on, because if any such device has a dead battery, TSA will assume it is a bomb.

In case you haven't noticed, nearly everyone is going to a yoga class. The breathing, stretching and relaxation regimen has always been popular among “New Age” adherents, but lately has gone mainstream in a big way.

A 2012 study by Yoga Journal counted 20.4 million Americans among those practicing yoga, compared to 15.8 million in the 2008 study. Demographically, yoga practitioners tend to be young and female, but that may be changing.

Physicians in recent years have begun recommending yoga for male and female patients of all ages. The Mayo Clinic says it can not only reduce stress, but lower blood pressure and improve heart function.

“Hatha yoga, in particular, may be a good choice for stress management,” Mayo Clinic physicians advise on the Clinic's website. “Hatha is one of the most common styles of yoga, and beginners may like its slower pace and easier movements.”

Yoga for seniors

Hatha yoga may, in fact, be a good choice for older adults. Researchers at the University of Illinois found practicing hatha yoga 3 times a week for as few as 8 weeks helped older, sedentary adults think more clearly.

The researchers tested two groups of seniors – one which engaged in hatha yoga classes and one which took part in simple stretching exercises.

After 8 weeks the yoga group was noticeably faster and more accurate on tests of information recall, mental flexibility and task-switching than it had been before the classes. The stretching-and-toning group was about the same at the end as it was at the beginning.

The two groups were balanced in age, gender, social status and other demographic factors so that played no part in the results.

Good for beginners

Hatha yoga is an ancient spiritual practice that involves meditation and focused breathing while an individual moves through a series of stylized postures. Neha Gothe, who led the study, says that makes it well-suited to beginners.

"Hatha yoga requires focused effort in moving through the poses, controlling the body and breathing at a steady rate," Gothe said. "It is possible that this focus on one's body, mind and breath during yoga practice may have generalized to situations outside of the yoga classes, resulting in an improved ability to sustain attention."

The Mayo Clinic also sees attributes to yoga that make it a helpful exercise for older adults. It can lead to better balance, flexibility, range of motion and strength. That means a senior regularly practicing yoga might be less likely to fall or be injured during other daily activities.

The Yoga Health Foundation cites studies suggesting yoga can even help patients manage diabetes. The studies showed that practicing yoga improved nerve function in patents' hands.

Before you start

It's a good idea talk to your doctor before starting a yoga program if you are over 50 and have any of the following conditions:

• A herniated disk
• A risk of blood clots
• Deconditioned state
• Eye conditions, including glaucoma
• Hyperthyroidism
• Pregnancy
• Severe balance problems
• Severe osteoporosis
• Uncontrolled blood pressure

There are plenty of books, videos and TV programs that can guide you through the process. However, most people find it more helpful to start with a class led by a qualified instructor.

An auto finance company that mostly lends to subprime borrowers is being fined $2.75 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Texas-based First Investors Financial Services Group Inc., distorted consumer credit records for years.  

The CFPB said First Investors failed to fix known flaws in a computer system that was providing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies. This potentially harmed tens of thousands of its customers. 

“First Investors showed careless disregard for its customers’ financial lives by knowingly distorting their credit profiles for years,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Companies cannot pass the buck by blaming a computer system or vendor for their mistakes. Today’s action sends a signal that the CFPB will hold companies accountable for sending inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies.”

First Investors is one of many thousands of voluntary data furnishers that provide information to the credit reporting agencies. Furnishers are required by law to have reasonable policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information they provide.

Credit reporting agencies track a consumer’s credit history and other consumer transactions based on information supplied by the furnishers. The reports that they sell are used in determining everything from consumer eligibility for credit to employment decisions.

The CFPB investigation found that First Investors furnished inaccurate information about its customers to credit reporting agencies for at least three years. When First Investors discovered the problem in April 2011, it notified the vendor but did nothing more.

The company did not replace the system or take any steps to correct the inaccurate information it had supplied. It continued for years to use a system that it knew was flawed. Tens of thousands of consumers were likely subject to these systemic reporting problems.

Enforcement action

The CFPB’s order requires First Investors to take the following actions:

· Correct errors on credit reports: First Investors must identify all consumer accounts affected by its reporting errors and fix any inaccuracies. The company must either provide the correct information, or, in cases where accurate information is not available, First Investors must delete references to the loan altogether.

· Help consumers obtain free copies of their credit reports: First Investors will identify and inform all affected consumers about this action. It will also help all affected consumers receive free copies of their credit reports so consumers can check the reports’ accuracy for themselves.

· Establish consumer safeguards: First Investors must change how it does business and establish safeguards to ensure that it reports only accurate information about its customers to credit reporting agencies. In addition, it must ensure it has the staffing, facilities, systems, and information necessary to timely and completely respond to consumer disputes. And, it must establish an audit program to identify any systemic inaccuracies.

· Pay a fine: First Investors will pay a $2.75 million fine for the illegal actions.

Macy's has agreed to stop racial profiling and false detentions at its 42 New York State stores, following a state investigation of more than a dozen complaints from customers of Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square.

“It is absolutely unacceptable -- and it’s illegal -- for anyone in New York to be treated like a criminal simply because of the color of their skin,” Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said. “This agreement will help ensure that no one is unfairly singled out as a suspected criminal when they shop in New York and that all New Yorkers enjoy full and equal access to our retail establishments.”

Schneiderman recently reached a similar agreement with Barneys New York. That agreement required Barneys to, among other things, retain an anti-profiling consultant, establish new recordkeeping requirements, adopt new loss prevention policies and procedures, and pay $525,000 in costs, fees and penalties.

Macy's will pay $650,000 and establish similar procedures.

Mortgage applications increased in the week ending thanks to falling interest rates and concern about international turmoil.

Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey show total applications were up 1.4% from the week before. The Refinance Index increased 3%, pushing the refinance share of mortgage activity to 55% of total applications from 54% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.8% of total applications.

“Interest rates dropped last week as a result of the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine and other international concerns, which in turn pushed mortgage rates lower,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Chief Economist. “Overall application volume for conventional mortgages increased.”

However, there was a 5.9% drop in the number of applications for government mortgages, with both purchase and refinance applications dipping. The decline was led by an 8% slide in unadjusted Department of Veterans Affairs applications, while Federal Housing Administration and Rural Housing Service unadjusted applications fell by 5% and 3%, respectively.

Contract interest rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) fell 6 basis points -- from 4.35% to 4.29% -- with points increasing to 0.26 from 0.22 (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) dipped to 4.18% from 4.24%, with points rising to 0.23 from 0.19 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate was down from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA decreased 5 basis points to 3.99%, while points were unchanged at 0.03 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs fell to 3.44% from 3.48%, while points remained the same at 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs plunged 14 basis points -- to 3.10%, with points dropping to 0.44 from 0.45 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

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

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is suing State Farm Insurance, alleging the nationwide insurer has engaged in a pattern of unfair and fraudulent business practices aimed at controlling the auto repair industry and forcing unsafe repairs on vehicles without the knowledge or consent of consumers.

“State Farm has created a culture of unsafe business practices in which consumer vehicle repairs are performed with cost-savings as the primary goal rather than safety and reliability,” Caldwell said.

The suit alleges State Farm violated Louisiana’s Unfair Trade Practices Act and Monopolies Law by using scare tactics to steer Louisiana consumers to State Farm’s preferred repair shops and forcing shops to perform vehicle repairs cheaply and quickly, rather than in accordance with consumer safety and vehicle manufacturer performance standards.

The lawsuit also charges that State Farm steers consumers to direct repair providers that have signed agreements with the insurance company. As part of the terms of the agreement, those repair shops must comply with the standards for repair laid out by State Farm.

The insurance company, not the repair shop, dictates how long the repair should take, what types of repairs are made and the quality of replacement parts. In many cases, the repairs are completed with sub-standard parts without the consent of the policy holder, the suit charges.

“In some cases, we’ve found that these parts are nothing more than used junk yard parts. In others, we’ve found them to be foreign knock-off parts of questionable quality,” said Caldwell. “Auto repair is not an industry where you can cut corners to save a little money,” he said. “It could be a matter of life and death.”

“Each month Louisiana consumers give their hard earned money to State Farm under the assumption that the insurer will take care of them if an accident occurs. This simply isn’t happening. Quite frankly, State Farm has been there for State Farm, not the Louisiana consumer,” Caldwell stated.

Top marks in every measurement category of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) small overlap front crash test helped the redesigned Subaru Legacy and Outback earn a "Top Safety Pick+" designation. The midsize vehicles' optional front crash prevention system was also a factor.

The previous generation Legacy also was a Top Safety Pick+ winner, earning an acceptable rating overall in the small overlap front test. Structural performance improved to good for the 2015 Legacy, compared with a marginal score for the outgoing model.

Impressive showing

The driver space was maintained well, with the safety cage preventing excessive intrusion into the occupant compartment. The dummy's movement was well-controlled, and the frontal and side curtain airbags worked together to protect the head from contact with interior structures. Ratings for restraints, dummy kinematics, and injury measures for the head and neck, chest, pelvis, and legs and feet are all good.

In the small overlap evaluation, 25% of a vehicle's front end on the driver side strikes a rigid barrier at 40 mph. It replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle strikes another vehicle or an object such as a tree or a utility pole.

The Legacy and Outback, which is the station wagon version of the Legacy, earn superior ratings for front crash prevention when equipped with EyeSight, their optional forward collision warning system with autobrake. In track evaluations, the system completely stopped the vehicle in the Institute's 12 and 25 mph front crash avoidance tests.

Strong track record

Subaru has the most 2014 TOP SAFETY PICK awards of any brand. Its other winners include the BRZ, Impreza, Forester, WRX and XV Crosstrek.

To qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK, a vehicle must earn a good or acceptable rating for small overlap protection, as well as good ratings in the Institute's moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests.

Top Safety Pick+ winners must meet those same criteria and also earn a basic, advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention.

nSpired Natural Foods is voluntarily recalling certain retail lots of Arrowhead Mills Peanut Butters, MaraNatha Almond Butters and Peanut Butters and specific private label nut butters packaged in glass and plastic jars.

The products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

The company has received reports of four illnesses that may be associated with these specific products.

The following products are being recalled:

The use-by date can be found on the top of the jar lid.

The company is currently working with customers and retailers to remove and destroy products with the above use-by dates from store shelves and warehouses.

Products were distributed across the U.S.,, Canada, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, and Dominican Republic, and also were available for purchase on the Internet.

Consumers need not return the product to the store where it was purchased. Instead, they should dispose of it and the container.

Consumers may contact the Company at 1-800-937-7008 between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM CST for a replacement or refund, and with general inquiries.

Bexco Enterprises of Montebello, Calif., is recalling about 1,100 Franklin & Ben Mason 4-in-1 Convertible Cribs in the U.S. and Canada.

The crib front can separate from the side panels and create a hazardous gap that can allow a child to fall out or become entrapped between the front and side panels.

The firm has received 14 reports of the front separating from the side panels of the crib. No injuries have been reported.

This recall includes Franklin & Ben Mason style 4-in-1 style cribs model number 5601 that were manufactured from January 2012 through August 2012. The model number and the date of manufacture are printed on a label on the inside of a side panel of the crib.

Listed on the label as a “serial number,” the following purchase order numbers are included in the recall: H004522, H004546, H004548 or H004777.

The cribs have solid wood sideboards and wood rails on the front and back of the crib in varying heights and can convert to a daybed, toddler bed or full-sized bed. There is a storage drawer at the base of the crib with two metal knobs. The recalled cribs were sold in weathered gray and rustic brown, and measure 57 inches long by 33 inches wide by 51 inches high.

The cribs, manufactured in Taiwan, were sold at juvenile products specialty retailers nationwide from January 2012 through June 2014 for between $600 and $700.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled cribs and contact the firm for a free repair kit. In the meantime, parents are urged to find an alternate, safe sleeping environment for the child, such as a bassinet, play yard or toddler bed depending on the child’s age.

Consumers may Contact Franklin & Ben, a division of Bexco, toll-free at (888) 673-6652 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

General Motors may be in danger of becoming synonymous with ignition switch defects but there's a group of GM truck owners who are more worried about unexplained fires in recent-vintage trucks.

"[M]y brother's 2013 Denali 2500 Truck (with less than 15,000 miles logged) burst into flame while he was driving down the highway on June 28th, 2014," said Dave of Meadville, Pa., in a review posted to ConsumerAffairs. "Luckily fellow commuters flagged him down as they saw the smoke and flames coming from the rear end of his truck."

Dave said the truck lost power moments later. His brother was able to coast into the median and he and a passenger scrambled out before the cab was engulfed in flames.

"Luckily nobody was in the back seat (adult, or small child) for they would have been severely burned at best, and at worst would not have made it out alive," Dave said.

GM spokesman Alan Adler told ConsumerAffairs the company had "no open safety investigation for fires on the vehicles about which you inquired."

370,000 recalled

In January, GM recalled about 370,000 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks because of a software malfunction that can allow idling trucks to heat up to dangerous levels. Adler said that recall "is now 95% complete."

Many of the reports received by ConsumerAffairs and other sites, however, involve other models, including one submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in July 2013 by the owner of a 2012 GMC Sierra:

WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS BEING DRIVEN, IT JUST WENT DEAD, NO ENGINE, NO ELECTRIC, NO NOTHING. THE VEHICLE WAS LEFT IN PLACE AND AT SOME POINT, CAUGHT FIRE AND BURNED. A TOTAL LOSS. TO DATE, THE INSURANCE COMPANY HAS NOT PAID ME FOR MY LOSS BUT RATHER HAS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO INVESTIGATE ME PERSONALLY, LOOKING FOR ANY REASON TO NOT PAY. SO, I'VE BEEN MAKING TWO VEHICLE PAYMENTS FOR THE LAST 8 MONTHS. AS A RESULT, I AM STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY.

It's toast

In another case involving a 2012 Sierra, Michael of Overland Park, Kan., had loaned his truck to a friend, who later called and said the truck had "suddenly shut down and everything went off. It would not start or nothing."

Michael, who works for the railroad, was riding the rails at the time. When he returned home, he found the truck was gone from the street where his friend had left it.

"I couldn't find it so called the Police Department and was told it had been towed and where it was. I called them to say I was on my way to pick it up. The lady on the phone laughed and said, 'Sir, your truck is burned (toast).'"

Michael said the truck had only 2,000 miles on it at the time and so far no one has found the cause of the fire. OnStar was unable to provide any advice and GM "won't even comment," Michael said.

Collateral damage

Sometimes it's not just the GM truck that goes up in flames.

"My daughter's Chevy Silverado pickup truck 2011 caught on fire in the front yard destroying the truck, her brand-new Toyota Camry and melted siding on the house next to them," said Susan of Tucson, Ariz.

The elements conspired to make things worse for William of Watertown, Conn., when he climbed into his 2010 GMC Terrain and went out to rescue his daughter who was stuck in a blizzard last year. He and his wife retrieved their daughter and turned around to head home. 

"It was snowing at a rate of about 3 inches an hour. We got to about a mile from home and we weren't able to get up the hill, so we diverted to a flatter route. I turned the traction control off, but the dash light kept flashing anyway. All of a sudden, the interior of the car was filled with thick black smoke," William said. "The entire car was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. ... The fire truck was not able to make the hill to the car and had to wait for a plow escort. The car was already fully engulfed in fire. There was nothing left, but at least, we got out alive."

William emailed GM. "They called me, put me on hold and made me listen to a bunch of advertisements for new GMC vehicles, got back on the phone and said no one was available to talk to me!"

Results of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week made a lot of waves. It suggested that a low-salt diet might be harmful to your health. At least, that was the way it was interpreted in most media reports.

Researchers at the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) studied people who consumed varied amounts of sodium in their daily diet. Not surprisingly, it found that people who consumed 6 or more grams of sodium each day had a higher risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

But it also found that people who consumed 1.5 grams or less each day had a higher risk of heart-related death. So the headline on the study concluded that consuming too little sodium could be harmful, just as consuming too much.

Misleading?

But is that really what the study says? Read how Suzanne Oparil, director of the vascular biology and hypertension program in UAB’s School of Medicine, put it.

“Importantly, the very large PURE study provides evidence that both high and low levels of sodium intake may be associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular disease outcomes,” she said.

Notice what she didn't say. She didn't say the research had found a causation link – only a correlation. The media was quick to conclude that consuming less than 1.5 grams of sodium daily was harmful but that's not what the study says. It says only that people on a low-sodium diet are more likely to die from heart disease than people who consume 3 to 6 grams.

Ask yourself – who exactly is on a low-sodium diet, one in which they consume 1.5 grams or less of sodium daily? Wouldn't it mostly be people with a history of heart disease, or people at higher risk of cardiovascular disease? Maybe they were people who once consumed 6 grams or more of sodium, until they developed heart disease and their doctor put them on a low-sodium diet.

And might not people with existing heart disease, or high risk of heart disease, be the people most likely to die of heart disease?

Controversial

The interpretation of the study is somewhat controversial, since the U.S. government, in 2010, lowered its recommended sodium intake for children and adults to no more than 2.3 grams daily. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends even less sodium – below 1.5 grams daily.

The AHA was quick to criticize the PURE study, saying it contained several substantial “methodological issues” that limit its usefulness for developing guidelines for healthy sodium consumption.

“The AHA has been concerned about the quality of these studies and strongly believes that other types of evidence, particularly the well-documented clinical trial relationship of sodium intake and blood pressure, provide the best scientific basis to guide policy,” said AHA President Elliott Antman.

AHA is joined in its critique by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a consumer group that has long advocated reduced sodium consumption in the American diet. CSPI Nutrition Director Bonnie F. Liebman notes that many low-sodium consumers in the study may have already been sick, a “serious shortcoming” in the study.

Liebman also notes that the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contained articles about 2 other sodium studies, one of which she says quantifies the massive toll caused by high-sodium diets. Consumers are eating too much sodium, she says, not too little.

“Americans are consuming about 4,000 mg of sodium per day—twice as high as those researchers recommend,” she says. “As a result, tens of thousands of Americans die prematurely every year due to cardiovascular disease.”

It's hard to describe just how clunky the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's database is. Trying to ferret out information about a particular car is about as simple as navigating the FiOS TV menu. 

But NHTSA's about to change all that, or some of it anyway. It's announcing a new database intended for use by consumers that, it's said, will make it quick and easy to check whether your car, or one you've thinking of buying, or maybe stealing, has been the subject of a recall.

All you will have to do is enter the 17-digit VIN number. You do know your car's VIN, don't you? It's located in several spots on newer cars, most prominently on the driver's side dashboard facing out. You can see it through the windshield.

For checking out cars you're considering buying, you will need to have a specific car -- not just a year and model -- in mind. It won't be any good if you're thinking of buying just any old 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, let's say. No, you'll need to have already picked out the exact Cobalt you plan to drive off the lot, assuming the ignition switch doesn't fall out into your lap.

Of course, like most things federal, this is hardly a new idea. There are numerous services, Carfax being the most prominent, that will give you not only a car's recall status but also its title history and other assorted facts for a small fee.

If it's only recall information you're interested in, Carfax provides that for free at http://www.carfax.com/recall_check.cfx. How -- or if -- NHTSA's system will be any better remains to be seen.

This is, of course, sort of par for the course. Government at all levels is blundering into the publishing business these days, competing with private businesses that have been operating successfully for years. Usually the net result is a big expenditure of funds with very little measurable effect.

Whether NHTSA manages to get it right will become clear when it finally unveils its latest effort, something we're told may happen later today.

This is a story about unintended consequences. How the best of intentions don't always provide the intended results.

For years educators have fretted about America's declining academic performance in science and technology. The result has been a new emphasis on training young people in these more rigorous fields.

Curricula in high school now stresses the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math. The goal is a graduate better prepared to participate in these competitive and much sough-after labor markets.

But researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that more rigorous academics have had another result. They have driven some students to drop out.

Playing catch-up

“There’s been a movement to make education in the United States compare more favorably to education in the rest of the world, and part of that has involved increasing math and science graduation requirements,” said first author Andrew D. Plunk, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine.

The study suggests this may be more of an indictment of today's students than the new, more rigorous standards. Or maybe an indictment of previous standards that were too lenient, not preparing students for the reality of global competition.

“There was an expectation that this was going to be good for students, but the evidence from our analyses suggests that many students ended up dropping out when school was made harder for them,” Plunk said.

The research team reported their findings in the journal Educational Researcher. They studied census data going back to 1990 to reach the conclusion that higher standards are dooming some students.

Correlation

The census data shows the U.S. dropout rate rose to a high of 11.4 percent when students were required to take six math and science courses, compared with 8.6 percent for students who needed fewer math and science courses to graduate.

“As graduation requirements were strengthened, high school dropout rates increased across the whole population,” Plunk said. “But African-Americans and Hispanics were especially affected. I think our findings highlight the need to anticipate there may be unintended consequences, especially when there are broad mandates that, in effect, make high school coursework harder.”

Co-author William F. Tate, dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences says it is clear that when school systems added math and science courses to requirements for high school graduation they did little to prepare students for the new requirements.

“Many students were ill-prepared for the tougher standards,” said Tate. “Going forward, state policymakers must understand that students can’t take more math and science courses if they quit school.”

Common Core backlash

The study comes amid a growing revolt by parents over the Common Core academic standards adopted in most states over the last two years. Core is an educational initiative specifying what students in kindergarten through high school should learn, not just about math and science but English as well.

It was launched with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in an effort to standardize learning in the U.S., eliminating disparities in standards between states. It caused controversy almost from the start.

As The New York Times recently noted, Common Core has critics all along the political spectrum. The right was the first to attack the standards as an intrusion by Washington into local education. But left of center groups have also voiced their opposition.

The New York teachers union has withdrawn its support for Common Core and Carol Burris, a highly respected Long Island principal, has called Common Core “a disaster.”

Is it a case of students being unable to meet a higher standard of learning? One prominent parent, comedian Louis C. K., has been very public in his criticism of Common Core – not because it's harder but because he says a lot of what it teaches doesn't make sense.

On the David Letterman Show, C.K said Common Core tests are written by unknown people.

“They've decided there is a new way kids need to think and we're going to improve their thinking by having them pass these tests,” he said. “Then I look at the problems, and it's like Bill has 3 goldfish, he buys 2 more, how many dogs live in London?”

In a subsequent Tweet, C.K wrote “My kids used to love math, now it makes them cry.”