Current Events in September 2014

Electric cars are getting more efficient, making them cleaner than the most efficient hybrids in most parts of the country, according to a new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

“Electric vehicles are doing more and more to fulfill their technological promise,” said Don Anair, research director for UCS’s Clean Vehicles Program. “If we want to reduce transportation pollution and oil use, a big part of the answer is to be like Bob Dylan and go electric.”

Anair said that 60% of Americans now live in regions where electric vehicles (EVs) produce fewer heat-trapping global warming emissions per mile than the most efficient hybrids. In 2012, that number was just 45%. 

Anair’s update to UCS’s 2012 report "State of Charge," finds that automakers are producing more efficient EVs. The average battery electric vehicle sold over the past year, for instance, uses 0.325 kilowatt hours of electricity per mile, a 5 percent improvement since 2011.

The improvement in efficiency means that the average EV continues to achieve lower global warming emissions than the average new conventional gasoline vehicle no matter where a U.S. driver lives, and is the best choice for reducing global warming emissions for the majority of American drivers.

“The amount of electricity you use to power a toaster oven for about 20 minutes can move a 3,000 pound electric car more than a mile,” Anair explained. “Automakers are making continued progress squeezing more range and performance out of their EVs.”

Regional differences

The analysis finds that electric vehicle performance improved in nearly every region. Texas and Florida both jumped from a 48 miles-per-gallon equivalent to 51 mpg while Arizona and New Mexico also made gains, going from a 49-mpg equivalent to 53 mpg. Those states, along with their coastal neighbors, are now home to EVs that can beat any hybrid on the market when it comes to reducing emissions, according to UCS’s analysis.

Additionally, the Midwest grid, which covers several states in whole and some in part, went from a 39-mpg to 43 mpg equivalent, meaning EVs there are as clean as some of the best hybrids on the market.

In California, EVs achieve the equivalent of 95 mpg. By contrast, EVs in Colorado produce the same amount of emissions as a 34 mpg car, the weakest regional performance in the analysis, but still better than the average new gasoline-powered compact, which is rated at 28 mpg. Residents of New York State enjoy the best EV performance, achieving the equivalent of 112 mpg.

Surgeons can remove just about anything these days, even a goldfish's brain tumor. I know you are waiting for a punch line. There is none -- it really happened. In Australia as a matter of fact. To George.

George is a ten-year-old goldfish that just wasn't acting right. Even his buddies in the bowl noticed something was wrong with George. Over the past year George had developed a large growth on his head.

The other fish started to bully him. He was having trouble sleeping and eating and just in general getting around. Try swimming with a lump as big as an extra head. It's not very easy.

But after an hour-long procedure at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Australia, surgeon Tristin Rich said George was off the hook. "It was quite an intricate little surgery really," he said.

The medical team took water in buckets from his pond and brought it to use during surgery. They fed George through a feeding tube in his mouth to keep his little gills wet. The biggest concern was controlling blood loss because he is such a tiny guy.

Dr. Tristan worked quickly to remove the large tumor, although the size of it meant that he had to use a gelatine sponge to control the bleeding during surgery. The size of the wound meant it was difficult to seal, so Tristan put in four sutures then sealed the rest of the wound with tissue glue. Closing him up was no easy feat because, being tiny, George doesn't have a lot of extra skin.

George's owner Joyce was impressed with the whole procedure. She said, "Just the way she was able to put the fish to sleep I think... And then stitching it up a little bit, minute little fishy stitches."

Joyce spent hundreds of dollars to have this operation done but it's her family's pet and she has enjoyed watching him swim around in the pond with his 20 other fish friends, who will hopefully take it easy on him while he recuperates.

It's not likely that George will forget all this kindness, at least short term. Goldfish's memory lasts about three months, which of course is nothing next to an elephant. They never forget anything.

George does have a Facebook page if you would like to follow his progress.

Online review site Yelp, Inc., and mobile app developer TinyCo, Inc., have agreed to settle separate Federal Trade Commission charges that they improperly collected children’s information in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, Rule.

Yelp will pay a $450,000 civil penalty, while TinyCo will pay $300,000.

“As people – especially children – move more of their lives onto mobile devices, it’s important that they have the same consumer protections when they’re using an app that they have when they’re on a website,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies should take steps as they build and test their apps to make sure that children’s information won’t be collected without a parent’s consent.”

COPPA requires that companies collecting information about children under 13 online follow a number of steps to ensure that children’s information is protected, including clearly disclosing how the information is used directly to parents and seeking verifiable parental consent before collecting any information from a child.

TinyCo said the problems occurred in its older games and said titles released since 2012 are "strictly complaint witih COPPA protections."

"We apologize to anyone affected by this issue, and want to be unequivocal in stating that TinyCo is fully committed to protecting user privacy, particularly when children are involved," the company said in a statement on its website.

Yelp

The FTC’s complaint against Yelp alleges that, from 2009 to 2013, the company collected personal information from children through the Yelp app without first notifying parents and obtaining their consent. When consumers registered for Yelp through the app on their mobile device, according to the complaint, they were asked to provide their date of birth during the registration process.

According to the complaint, several thousand registrants provided a date of birth showing they were under 13 years old, and Yelp collected information from them including, for example, their name, e-mail address, and location, as well as any information that they posted on Yelp.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that Yelp failed to follow the COPPA Rule’s requirements, even though it knew – based on registrants’ birth dates – that children were registering for Yelp through the mobile app. 

Under the terms of the settlement, Yelp must delete information it collected from consumers who stated they were 13 years of age or younger at the time they registered for the service, except in cases where the company can prove to the FTC that the consumers were actually older than 13.

The settlement will also require the company to comply with COPPA requirements in the future and submit a compliance report to the FTC in one year outlining its COPPA compliance program.

TinyCo

The FTC’s complaint against TinyCo alleges that many of the company’s popular apps, which were downloaded more than 34 million times across the major mobile app stores, targeted children.

Among the apps named in the complaint are Tiny Pets, Tiny Zoo, Tiny Monsters, Tiny Village and Mermaid Resort. The complaint alleges that the apps, through their use of themes appealing to children, brightly colored animated characters and simple language, were directed at children under 13 and thus, TinyCo was subject to the COPPA Rule.

Many of TinyCo’s apps included an optional feature that collected e-mail addresses from users, including children younger than age 13. In some of the company’s apps, by providing an e-mail address, users obtained extra in-game currency that could be used to buy items within the game or speed up gameplay. 

Under the terms of its settlement, TinyCo is required to delete the information it collected from children under 13. The settlement will also require the company to comply with COPPA requirements in the future and submit a compliance report to the FTC in one year outlining its compliance with the order.

After previously being given a poor rating poor in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) small overlap front test, the Kia Soul now has earned a good rating in the tough crash test, following structural improvements for the 2015 model year.

Coupled with good ratings in the Institute's four other crashworthiness evaluations, the small car  qualifies for the IIHS Top Safety Pick award.

A second small car from Kia, the Forte, also improved after the manufacturer made changes, but only to a marginal rating.

Improving the Soul

The 2013 Soul and the 2014 Forte both earned poor ratings in the small overlap test. The Soul was redesigned for the 2014 model year, but wasn't tested then because the company told IIHS it didn't believe it would perform well. The front end and occupant compartment were strengthened for 2015.

In the test of the 2015 Soul, the driver space was maintained reasonably well with a small amount of intrusion. The dummy's movement was well controlled, and its head hit the frontal airbag, which stayed in position during the crash.

Additionally, the side curtain airbag deployed and provided sufficient coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects. All measurements recorded on the dummy indicated a low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity.

Upgrades for the Forte

Like the Soul, the Forte also got significant structural upgrades to the occupant compartment. Compared with the 2014 model -- one of the worst performers of any vehicle tested by IIHS for small overlap protection -- the 2015 model fared much better, but its overall rating still is only marginal. Even with the stronger occupant compartment, the driver's space wasn't maintained well, with intrusion approaching 8 inches at the lower hinge pillar.

Also, the dummy's head slid off the frontal airbag and struck the instrument panel, as the safety belt allowed too much forward motion. The side airbag also lacked sufficient coverage to protect the head. Nevertheless, injury measures on the dummy were low.

IIHS introduced the small overlap evaluation in 2012. In the test, which is more challenging than either the head-on crashes conducted by the government or the Institute's moderate overlap test, 25% of a vehicle's front end on the driver side strikes a rigid barrier at 40 mph. The crash replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object such as a tree or a utility pole.

To qualify for Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn a good or acceptable rating for small overlap protection and good ratings in the Institute's moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests.

Nothing to see here as far as inflation is concerned.

Figures released by the Labor Department (DOL) show lower energy  costs -- especially for gasoline -- sent the Consumer Price Index (CPI) tumbling 0.2% in August on a seasonally adjusted basis. It’s the first decline since April 2013.

Energy prices were a major factor in the dip, falling 2.6% -- more than offsetting a 0.2% increase in the cost of food.

Energy prices

The 2.6% slide in energy costs  in August -- the largest since March 2013 -- was led by a plunge of 4.1% in the cost of gasoline. Natural gas prices fell (-2.8%) as did fuel oil (-12%). Electricity was the only major energy component to rise (+0.1%).

Food costs

The 0.2% increase in food prices was more than offset by the decline in energy costs. The six major
grocery store food groups split among 3 increases and 3 declines. Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 1.5 % --  the largest increase among the groups. Beef and veal rose (+4.2%) along with dairy and related products (+0.6%) and the cereals and bakery products (+0.2%). In contrast, fruit and vegetable prices were down (- 0.8%), along with nonalcoholic beverages (-0.2%).

Core inflation

The index for all items less food and energy -- the “core rate” of inflation -- was unchanged in August -- the first month since October 2010 that it did not increase. While prices for housing, new vehicles and alcoholic beverages rose, the advances were offset by declines in the cost of airline fares, recreation, household furnishings and operations, apparel, and used cars and trucks. Over the last 12 months the core rate of inflation is up 1.7%.

The full August CPI report is available on the DOL website.

After falling for the first time in four weeks, applications for mortgages are back on track.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, applications surged 7.9% during the week ending September 12.

At the same time, the Refinance Index jumped 10% from the previous week, taking the refinance share of mortgage activity up 2% from the previous week -- to 57% of total applications, the highest level since February.  

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.6% of total applications.

“Application volume rebounded coming out of the Labor Day holiday, even as rates increased to their highest level in the last few months,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Chief Economist.  “Given the volatility in activity around the long weekend, it can be helpful to look at the change over a two week span: refinance applications are down 1.4% while purchase applications are up 2.1%.  Purchase volume continues to track almost ten percent behind last year’s levels.”

Contract interest rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) rose 9 basis points -- from 4.27% to 4.36%, the highest level since June 2014, with points decreasing to 0.20 from  0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 4.24% from 4.15%, with points decreasing to 0.16 from 0.23 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA was up 6 basis points to 4.03%, with points dropping to 0.05 from 0.08 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs increased to 3.56% from 3.44%, with points decreasing to 0.25 from 0.28 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs rose from 3.12% to 3.19%, with points decreasing to 0.29 from 0.45 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

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

Chrysler Group is recalling 25,483 model year 2014-2015 Fiat 500L vehicles manufactured March 3, 2012, to July 25, 2014.

Irregularities in the folding process during assembly of the driver's knee airbag may result in its improper deployment.  If the knee airbag does not deploy properly during a crash, there is an increased risk of driver injury.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's knee air bag, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in September 2014.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is P42.

Continental Tire the Americas is recalling 8,070 ContiAttack SM, ContiSportAttack, ContiSportAttack2, ContiRaceAttack Comp. Soft, ContiRaceAttack Comp. Medium, ContiRaceAttack Comp. Endurance, and ContiRoadAttack 2 GTW motorcyle tires, in sizes 120/70ZR17 and 120/70R17.

The tires may experience a separation between the tread, belt, and carcass resulting in a loss of tire inflation pressure, which could increase the risk of a motorcycle crash.

Continental will notify owners, and dealers will replace the subject tires with new tires, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Continental customer service at 1-800-847-3349.

Gel Spice Company of Bayonne, N.J., is recalling 16,443 cases of Fresh Finds-Ground Black Pepper in 3.53-oz. plastic jars.

The pepper may be contaminated with Salmonella.

There have been no reported illnesses related to this product to date.

The product was distributed via Big Lots Stores nationwide, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii.

There are 16,443 cases of the recalled product sold in 3.53-oz.(100 g) plastic jars with Best By Dates of 6/30/17, 7/01/17, 7/02/17, 7/22/17, and 7/23/17 with the Fresh Finds brand label with UPC Code 4 11010 98290 1 is sold exclusively at Big Lots Stores, Inc. The Best By dates are printed on the neck of the bottle above the label.

Consumers who have the recalled product should dispose of it.

For further information, consumers may call  718-702-1532 Monday-Friday from 9-5 ET.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook gave a rare two-part televised interview (easily available online) to Charlie Rose this week, discussing everything fromthe company's commitment to diversity “with a capital D” to its successful growth in the Chinese consumer market.

But, arguably, the most attention is being paid to Cook's statements regarding Apple's privacy policies.

The company got some bad publicity (to put it mildly) earlier this month, when hackers managed to steal the private photos of over 100 celebrities who'd thought their images were safely stored in the iCloud (or even safely deleted, in some instances).

But Cook assured Charlie Rose that the company is committed to privacy, and most assuredly is not in the business of collecting or selling people's personal information. AppleInsider put it this way:

Among the wide-ranging topics, Cook said Apple's business is not based on gathering consumer information, as with other companies like Google, but selling products like the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

"Our business is not based on having information about you. You're not our product," Cook said, adding, "Our product are these, and this watch, and Macs and so forth. And so we run a very different company. I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money. And if they're making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried."

Cook also discussed heavier topics, including the mass, warrantless, U.S. government surveillance of its citizens, and other revelations exposed by former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, saying that he doesn't think the government has struck the right balance between security concerns on the one hand, and individual privacy and civil-liberty concerns on the other:

"I don’t think that the country, or the government’s found the right balance. I think they erred too much on the collect everything side. And I think the [U.S.] president and the [Obama] administration is committed to kind of moving that pendulum back.

However, you don’t want... it’s probably not right to not do anything. And so I think it’s a careful line to walk. You want to make sure you’re protecting American people. But... there’s no reason to collect information on you. But people are 99.99 percent of other people."

Gagged?

For Apple users who are not reassured by Cook's pro-privacy statements, bear in mind: it's possible that Cook and other Apple executives are legally forbidden to say anything more. Consider: last December, when news broke that the NSA allegedly has complete (secret) access to people's iPhones and any data therein, Apple executives indignantly denied all claims of helping NSA spy on its customers.

Maybe they were telling the truth — or maybe they were being forced to lie about what they were doing. That's exactly what happened to Yahoo, after all: just last week, news broke that in 2008, the government ordered Yahoo to turn over massive amounts of confidential data on its users, and if Yahoo didn't comply, the company would initially be fined $250,000 per day, with the  amount set to double every week: $500,000 per day for the second week, a million a day for the third, then two million, then four million …. why are Americans in late-2014 only now learning about a surveillance program dating back seven years? Because until last week, the government would not allow Yahoo to inform anybody about its spying-on-government-orders activities.

Not that Yahoo is the only company forced to operate under a gag order. Last May, Apple made headlines (alongside other tech companies including Facebook, Microsoft and Google), for its courtroom attempts to fight various government-imposed “gag orders” about its legally mandated spying activities.

Nothing's happened yet, though, so if Apple or other companies are collecting your data, well, they're pretty much obligated to lie to you about it, on pain of incurring the full wrath of the U.S. government. Bear in mind that on Sept. 12, a federal spy court renewed the program granting the NSA the right to collect all Americans' electronic "metadata" without any warrants.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing for-profit Corinthian Colleges, Inc. for what it calls an illegal predatory lending scheme.

The CFPB alleges that Corinthian lured tens of thousands of students to take out private loans to cover expensive tuition costs by advertising bogus job prospects and career services. Corinthian then used illegal debt collection tactics to strong-arm students into paying back those loans while still in school.

The Bureau is seeking to halt these practices and is asking the court to grant relief to the students who collectively have taken out more than $500 million in private student loans.

Corinthian is one of the largest for-profit college chains in the country. It has more than 100 school campuses across the country, operating schools under the names Everest, Heald, and WyoTech. As of last March, the company had approximately 74,000 students.

In June, the U.S. Department of Education delayed Corinthian’s access to federal student aid dollars because of reports of malfeasance. Since then, Corinthian has been scaling down its operations as part of an agreement with the Department of Education. However, Corinthian continues to enroll new students.

Lured by lies

The lawsuit charges that Corinthian schools used misleading claims to lure students, including:

· Sham job placement rates: The CFPB alleges that Corinthian’s school representatives led students to think that when they graduated they were likely to land good jobs and sufficient salaries to repay their private student loans. But the CFPB believes that Corinthian inflated the job placement rates at its schools. Based on its investigation, the CFPB alleges that this included creating fictitious employers and reporting students as being placed at those fake employers.

· One-day long “career”: According to the CFPB’s investigation, Corinthian schools told students they would have promising career options with an Everest, Heald, or WyoTech degree. But Corinthian counted a “career” as a job that merely lasted one day, with the promise of a second day.

· Pay for placement: The CFPB also alleges that the Corinthian schools further inflated advertised job placement rates by paying employers to temporarily hire graduates. The schools did not inform students about these payments or that these jobs were temporary.

· Craigslist career counseling: According to the CFPB’s investigation, the Corinthian schools promised students extensive and lasting career services that were not delivered. Students often had trouble contacting anyone in the career services office or getting any meaningful support. The limited career services included distributing generally available job postings from websites like Craigslist.

Predatory Loans

Tuition and fees for some Corinthian programs were more than five times the cost of similar programs at public colleges. In 2013, the Corinthian tuition and fees for an associate’s degree was $33,000 to $43,000. The tuition and fees for a bachelor’s degree at Corinthian cost $60,000 to $75,000.

The CFPB charges that Corinthian colleges deliberately inflated tuition prices to be higher than federal loan limits so that most students were forced to rely on additional sources of funding. The Corinthian schools then relied on deceptive statements regarding its education program to induce students into taking out its high-cost private student loans, known as “Genesis loans.”

Help for students

The CFPB is publishing a special notice for current and former Corinthian students to help them navigate their options in this time of uncertainty, including information on loan discharge options.

The CFPB estimates that there is approximately $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, with more than 7 million Americans in default on more than $100 billion in balances. Students and their families can find help on how to tackle their student debt on the CFPB's website.

There are many reasons people go to a hospital emergency room and in recent years, spiking blood pressure has become a fairly common one.

Data presented at the American Heart Association's High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions earlier this month showed the number of ER cases of essential hypertension, high blood pressure with no known cause, increased by 25% over a 5-year period.

That means a lot of people who suddenly discover their blood pressure is dangerously high are seeking immediate medical attention. Dr. Sourabh Aggarwal, M.D., Chief Resident in the Department of Internal Medicine at Western Michigan University School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, says there's a clear takeaway from this development.

What it shows

"This shows we are not doing a good job in controlling high blood pressure in the outpatient setting," she said. "We need better high blood pressure care in this setting."

When patients go to the ER for treatment of high blood pressure, they are less likely than in the past to be admitted. This may have to do with more effective treatments, including medications. Researchers reached their conclusion after collecting data on about 3.9 million ER visits from 2006 to 2011 in which high blood pressure was the first listed diagnosis.

The research does not show what specifically sent the people to the hospital but the American Heart Association recommends going to the ER if you have blood pressure above 180/110 mm Hg, which is considered a hypertensive crisis.

High blood pressure, often called a silent killer because it typically has no symptoms, affects 76.4 million U.S. adults. It's a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack and heart failure.

It's also on the increase, as more Americans are overweight and sedentary. While high blood pressure can have many causes, those 2 are among the most common.

Small weight gain

The American Heart Association event produced other significant new information about hypertension. Researchers said they found that gaining as little as 5 pounds can raise the blood pressure of otherwise healthy adults.

“To our knowledge, for the first time, we showed that the blood pressure increase was specifically related to increases in abdominal visceral fat, which is the fat inside the abdomen,” said Naima Covassin, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and a research fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “Our research suggests that healthy people who are more likely to gain weight in the stomach area are also more likely to have their blood pressure increased.”

The study found that test subjects who gained weight increased the systolic blood pressure by 4 points compared to test subjects who didn't gain weight. Where the weight was gained was also a factor.

People who added fat in the stomach area had the greatest increase in their blood pressure. While the small weight gain did increase blood pressure, it didn't have any effect on insulin or blood sugar levels.

“The public awareness of the adverse health effects of obesity is increasing; however, it seems most people are not aware of the risks of a few extra pounds,” Covassin said. “This is an important finding because a 5 to 7 pound weight gain may be normal for many during the holiday season, the first year of college or even while on vacation.”

And as you get older, it gets harder to shed pounds, even as few as 5. Better to avoid gaining it in the first place, if possible.

A recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Researchoffers evidence for the unsurprising suggestion that the gambler's fallacy doesn't apply only to gamblers: some shoppers are apparently prone to it too, although in their specific case the term “loyalty fallacy” might be a better fit.

What is the gambler's fallacy? It's also called the “Monte Carlo fallacy” or the “fallacy of the maturity of chances,” and it's the fallacy (more specifically, the misunderstanding of probability math) which makes gamblers think they're “on a roll” or “due for a payout” or something similar.

Here's the simplest example: suppose you flip a coin, and bet on whether it will come up heads or tails. Assuming it's a fair and honest coin (as opposed to some trick or weighted coin), any individual flip has a 50%, or 1 in 2, chance of coming up either heads or tails. And if you flip the coin 100 times in a row, recording heads or tails each time, you'll most likely end up with approximately 50 showings of each.

Unpredictable series

That said: it's almost certain those hundred coin flips won't result in a predictable, repeated heads/tails/heads/tails pattern. Instead, you'd see periods where the coin came up heads several times in a row, interspersed with times where tails repeated itself, and periods where heads and tails clearly appeared purely at random.

So if you're flipping this coin, or betting on its outcome, it might be tempting to think “This coin has come up heads the last five times — that means it'll probably come up heads next time, too! It's on a streak!” Or you might think the exact opposite: “It's come up heads five times in a row — that means it's due to show tails on the next flip.”

But both arguments are incorrect. Fact is (again, assuming an honest coin flipped by an honest person), that coin still has exactly a 50% chance each of coming up heads or tails, regardless of which side appeared in the last five flips.

With that in mind, consider the December 2014 edition of the Journal of Consumer Research, which published a study called “Lucky Loyalty: The Effect of Consumer Effort on Predictions of Randomly Determined Marketing Outcomes.”  

According to the abstract,

This research explores how loyal customers, those who have invested relatively high amounts of effort with a firm in the form of past purchases, respond to randomly determined marketing outcomes (e.g., winning a prize in a random drawing). Across five studies, participants exhibit a “lucky loyalty” effect, in which they believe that greater effort (e.g., dollars spent at a retailer or number of nights stayed at a hotel) results in greater likelihood of obtaining randomly determined promotional outcomes. Loyal customers report these higher subjective likelihoods for randomly determined outcomes because they feel they deserve special treatment from the firm. Theoretically, this work demonstrates that individuals appear to believe that they can earn “unearnable” outcomes through effort, even when the effort and outcome are unrelated.

Loyalty rewarded?

In other words: when a store, hotel chain or any other business holds a random contest promotion – such as “Fill out this card for a random drawing, with a winner to be picked later,” customers who routinely patronize that business think they have better-than-random odds of winning, because they deserve it as a customer-loyalty reward.

Such contests are not to be confused with actual loyalty-reward programs – if, for example, your supermarket offers you a money-off coupon for every $100 you spend at that supermarket, you do indeed “deserve” such a coupon for every $100 you spend. The study does make mention of these loyalty programs, in the context of explaining how customers who participate in such programs, where rewards are indeed passed out according to “loyalty” (as measured by how much you spend, or other factors), often become more likely to think they'll win other, random, promotions where loyalty or customer history does not actually play a role:

A variety of companies, from hotels and airlines to different types of retailers (e.g., Macy’s, CVS, Kroger), have loyalty programs that offer customers discounts and other rewards in exchange for repeat business In this research, we conceptualize loyalty as effort in the form of a customer’s past purchases with a firm, and we explore how customers who have invested more effort with a given firm (e.g., spent more money on a particular retail outlet’s credit card, stayed more nights at a particular hotel chain’s properties, etc.) respond differently to that firm’s promotions compared to consumers who have invested little or no effort with the firm. Specifically, we address differences with respect to promotions involving a random element …. customers who have been more loyal to a firm believe they are more likely to receive randomly-determined promotional outcomes from the firm (i.e., that they are “luckier”) compared to customers who have put in little to no effort with the firm in the form of past purchases ….

This attitude is not identical to the gamblers' fallacy belief that they're “on a streak” or “due” for a certain outcome, but it definitely has something in common with it: the erroneous belief that past activity has any bearing on future outcomes.

The study's authors were Rebecca Walker Reczek and Christopher A. Summers from Ohio State University, and Kelly L. Haws from Vanderbilt University. (Despite the December label on the issue, the actual study was published online on Aug. 22. It's available as a .pdf file here).

In drought-stricken areas like California you have to wonder how can you grow backyard veggies if there are water restrictions.

The answer is simple. Just don't shower, if you do, or take shorter showers. Most of us might have to think about that but Mark Van Horn, director of the Student Farm at UC-Davis says he would rather skimp on a shower then not water his tomato plants.

He says the key is to water your backyard plots as carefully as possible. Water-smart gardens are well planned out. Before you start digging, remember that deep-rooted plants tend to need less water so try things like native beans, tomatoes, melons, squash and asparagus over things like cabbage.

Also, think about how many you will really eat. If you plant excess, you're a water waster.

Compost & mulch

You will want to add compost to your soil as well as mulch. Having your garden beds be composed of at least 2% of compost will help your soil retain a great deal more water. Mulch greatly reduces water loss from evaporation, cutting your irrigation needs by as much as 50%, so smother that soil with a layer of grass clippings, leaves, shredded bark, newspaper or straw.

Remember how your kids used to get growing pains at night? Thats where the big sprouts happen -- at night, so water in the evening. If you water in the morning or midday it will just evaporate.

Squeeze your plants as close together as possible. If you plant them closer you won't need as much water. It also creates a shade over the soil which will help prevent evaporation.

If you really are resourceful you can save the water from that shower you take once a week, or whatever, and reuse it to water your garden. It's called grey water, for obvious reasons. Also rainwater -- if it does ever rain place a few buckets outside and save it.

One type of water you should not save is roof water. It's supposedly not fit for watering edibles.

There are many more ideas on how to grow in a drought a great place for help would be your local cooperative extension to learn more.

Saying one thing and doing another may be common but it's illegal when it involves advertising, as Walmart stores in New York State have learned. 

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that Walmart has agreed to settle charges that it advertised a nationwide sale of Coca-Cola soft drinks but charged customers in 117 stores across New York State more than the advertised sale price.

In a statement, Walmart apologized and said it was working to prevent similar incidents in the future. 

"We strive for accuracy, and we are further enhancing our procedures to help ensure proper promotional pricing. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers. They can rest assured that Walmart is committed to delivering the products they need at everyday low prices," Walmart said.   

In June 2014, Walmart launched a Father’s Day sale, including advertising 12-packs of Coca-Cola products for $3.00. However, when consumers in New York State attempted to purchase the sale items, customers were routinely charged $3.50.

According to Schneiderman, in one Buffalo-area Walmart store a consumer brought the error to the attention of staff and was told that the newspaper circular was a national ad and that it did not apply in New York.

When consumers complained about being charged more than the advertised price, Walmart staff falsely told them that New York has a "Sugar Tax."

One set of rules

“There has to be one set of rules for everyone, no matter how rich or how powerful, and that is why our office must ensure that even the largest corporations cannot advertise one price and then charge a higher one to New Yorkers,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. 

Schneiderman said consumers were routinely overcharged in stores across the state. It was determined that cash registers were programmed to not recognize the advertised sale price. On June 12, 2014, the Attorney General’s Office requested that Walmart immediately adjust prices to the amount advertised and the chain complied.

It's only September, so filing your 2014 federal income tax return is probably way down on your list of things to think about.

But, with another school year now underway it's not too early to see if you qualify for either of 2 college tax credits or any of several other education-related tax benefits.

The American opportunity tax credit and lifetime learning credit are generally available to taxpayers who pay qualifying expenses for an eligible student. Eligible students include the taxpayer and his or her spouse and dependents.

The American opportunity tax credit provides a credit for each eligible student, while the lifetime learning credit provides a maximum credit per tax return. Though a taxpayer often qualifies for both credits, he or she can only claim one of them for a particular student in a particular year. Claimed on Form 8863, these credits are available to all taxpayers -- both those who itemize their deductions on Schedule A and those who claim a standard deduction.

The right option

For those eligible -- including most undergraduate students, the American opportunity tax credit will generally yield the greater tax savings. Alternatively, the lifetime learning credit should be considered by part-time students and those attending graduate school.

Both credits are available for students enrolled in an eligible college, university or vocational school -- including both nonprofit and for-profit institutions. Neither credit can be claimed by a nonresident alien, a married person filing a separate return or someone claimed as a dependent on another person’s return.

Normally, students will receive a Form 1098-T from their institution by the end of January of the following year (Jan. 31, 2015 for calendar year 2014). This form will show information about tuition paid or billed along with other information.

However, amounts shown on this form may differ from amounts taxpayers are eligible to claim for these tax credits. Taxpayers should see the instructions to Form 8863 and Publication 970 for details on properly figuring allowable tax benefits.

American opportunity tax credit

Many of those eligible for the American opportunity tax credit qualify for the maximum annual credit of $2,500 per student. Students can claim this credit for qualified educational expenses paid during the entire tax year for a certain number of years:

• The credit is only available for 4 tax years per eligible student.
• The credit is available only if the student has not completed the first 4 years of post-secondary education before 2014.

Here are some more key features of the credit:

• Qualified education expenses are amounts paid for tuition, fees and other related expenses for an eligible student. Other expenses, such as room and board, are not qualified expenses.
• The credit equals 100% of the first $2,000 spent and 25% of the next $2,000. That means the full $2,500 credit may be available to a taxpayer who pays $4,000 or more in qualified expenses for an eligible student.
• The full credit can only be claimed by taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is $80,000 or less. For married couples filing a joint return, the limit is $160,000. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with incomes above these levels. No credit can be claimed by joint filers whose MAGI is $180,000 or more and singles, heads of household and some widows and widowers whose MAGI is $90,000 or more.
• Forty percent of the American opportunity tax credit is refundable. This means that even people who owe no tax can get an annual payment of up to $1,000 for each eligible student.

Lifetime learning credit

The lifetime learning credit of up to $2,000 per tax return is available for both graduate and undergraduate students. Unlike the American opportunity tax credit, the limit on the lifetime learning credit applies to each tax return, rather than to each student. Also, the lifetime learning credit does not provide a benefit to people who owe no tax.

Though the half-time student requirement does not apply to the lifetime learning credit, the course of study must be either part of a post-secondary degree program or taken by the student to maintain or improve job skills. Other features of the credit include:

Tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance qualify as do other fees required for the course. Additional expenses do not.

The credit equals 20 percent of the amount spent on eligible expenses across all students on the return. That means the full $2,000 credit is only available to a taxpayer who pays $10,000 or more in qualifying tuition and fees and has sufficient tax liability.

Income limits are lower than under the American opportunity tax credit. For 2014, the full credit can be claimed by taxpayers whose MAGI is $54,000 or less. For married couples filing a joint return, the limit is $108,000. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with incomes above these levels. No credit can be claimed by joint filers whose MAGI is $128,000 or more and singles, heads of household and some widows and widowers whose MAGI is $64,000 or more.

Taxpayer help

You can use the IRS’s Interactive Tax Assistant tool to help determine if you are eligible for these benefits. Eligible parents and students can get the benefit of these credits during the year by having less tax taken out of their paychecks. They can do this by filling out a new Form W-4, claiming additional withholding allowances, and giving it to their employer.

There are a variety of other education-related tax benefits that can help many taxpayers. They include:

• Scholarship and fellowship grants — generally tax-free if used to pay for tuition, required enrollment fees, books and other course materials, but taxable if used for room, board, research, travel or other expenses.
• Student loan interest deduction of up to $2,500 per year.
• Savings bonds used to pay for college — though income limits apply, interest is usually tax-free if bonds were purchased after 1989 by a taxpayer who, at time of purchase, was at least 24 years old.
• Qualified tuition programs, also called 529 plans, used by many families to prepay or save for a child’s college education.

Taxpayers with qualifying children who are students up to age 24 may be able to claim a dependent exemption and the earned income tax credit.

In what may be a sign of better things to come, the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index (Index) picked up in August. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

“A notable decrease in initial unemployment insurance claims helped push the Index up,” said Deloitte Senior U.S. Economist Daniel Bachman. “An improving labor market can be a boon to consumer confidence. If these trends continue, there is a strong likelihood that we could see an acceleration of economic growth in the latter part of the year.”

The Index, which ecompasses 4 components -- tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices -- increased to 3.96 this month from 3.70 last month.

“The uptick in the Index suggests optimism as retailers anticipate the all important holiday shopping season,” said Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and retail and distribution sector leader. “These economic fundamentals along with lower gas prices may encourage consumers to pick up their spending in the months ahead.”

Retailers, Paul said, should take a closer look at inventory with this optimism in mind to get an early read on what’s hot -- both in store and online, in case they need to pull some last minute levers to replenish merchandise. “Retailers should also assess their cyber security levels as attackers may be especially motivated to be more aggressive during peak periods like the holiday season,” Paul continued, adding, “retailers will not only need to be vigilant about suspicious activity, but prepared to quickly address and recover from any incidents.”

Index highlights

• Tax burden: The tax rate continues a steady hold at 11.7%, showing a marginal increase from the prior month.
• Initial unemployment claims: Claims decreased notably to 296,000, and furthermore were down 10.5% from the same period last year.
• Real Wages: Real hourly wages increased slightly to $8.80 and were up a slight 0.3% up from the same period last year.
• Real median new home price: New home prices continue to fluctuate as they fell 3.% from the prior month -- to $113,000.