Current Events in January 2017

When temperatures are freezing, you’re likely to take a few extra precautions before heading outdoors. Among them: grabbing a coat and making sure your extremities are protected against the elements.

Pets require special care in freezing temperatures, too. This time of year, pet parents are reminded that fur coats don’t offer all the protection pets need -- pets feel the bitter cold as easily as humans.

To keep pets warm and safe in winter, experts recommend reducing outdoor activities. What else can pet owners can do to protect their pets during severe weather? Here are a few tips from experts.

Winter weather pet safety

The ASPCA notes that exposure to winter’s dry, cold air, and chilly sleet and snow can cause chapped paws, and itchy, flaking skin. Pet parents can reduce these discomforts and prevent other cold weather dangers from affecting pets by taking the following advice:

• Forgo pet haircuts. Because longer coats give dogs more insulation, the ASPCA advises against shaving your dog in the winter. If you have a short-haired pup, consider having him sport a winter coat or sweater with a high collar or turtleneck in cold weather.
• Wipe down your pet. Make sure to wipe down your pet’s belly, legs, and paws. Paws caked with snow, salt, and ice-melting chemicals can irritate and even harm your pet if licked or swallowed. If possible, apply petroleum jelly or another paw protectant to your pet’s paws before venturing out for a winter walk.  
• Give extra food and water. Pets tend to burn a little more energy in the winter trying to stay warm. For this reason, experts recommend feeding your pet a little extra during winter months. Additionally, make sure your pet has access to plenty of clean, fresh water -- dry winter weather can be particularly dehydrating.
• Reduce baths. Baths can strip your dog of important essential oils, so fully bathe your pooch as little as possible during cold weather. If a bath is necessary, use a moisturizing shampoo and/or rinse. Just hoping to de-stink your dog? Consider using dry shampoo.
• Provide a warm place to sleep. Keep your dog comfortable and toasty at night by setting up a warm place to sleep. A pet bed with a blanket or pillow will work, as long as it’s off the floor and away from drafts.  
• Keep an eye on pets. Many pets get disoriented and lost in winter, so be sure to keep your pet on a leash when outside. Finally, remember that if it’s too cold for you, it’s too cold for them -- let dogs and cats come inside when it’s very cold outside.

Sugar is no joke, says a lawsuit that accuses the Coca-Cola Company and the American Beverage Association of downplaying the health risks of sugary soda.

The suit, filed by the nonprofit Praxis Project, takes issue with commercials that claim even small amounts of exercise -- like laughing for 75 seconds -- can negate the effects of the sugar in a 12-ounce can of regular Coke. The Praxis suit says the commercials are deceptive. 

“From the 1950s until the late 1990s, the tobacco industry engaged in an elaborate campaign of disinformation to cast doubt on the science connecting cigarettes to lung cancer and other diseases,” said Maia C. Kats, litigation director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is providing legal counsel to Praxis.  “Today the soda industry is engaged in its own campaign of disinformation to cast doubt on the science connecting sugar-sweetened beverages to obesity, and obesity-related diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease."

Kats said the lawsuit "seeks to stop Coke and the ABA from deceiving the public on the science linking obesity and related diseases to regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.”  

Praxis describes itself as "a movement support intermediary committed to capacity building for social change." CSPI is a longtime crusader for safer food and beverages.

As an example, the groups cite a YouTube commercial (below), “Be OK,” as “spreading misinformation” by suggesting that “exercise, even small amounts like laughing or bowling, can offset the harmful effects of drinking soda.”

"Happy calories"

The video notes that the “140 happy calories” in a 12-ounce can of regular Coke can be spent on “extra happy activities” such as 25 minutes of dog walking, 10 minutes of dancing, or 75 seconds of laughing out loud. 

The complaint also cites numerous alleged examples of Coca-Cola and ABA officials making false and deceptive statements about sugar-sweetened drinks.  For example:

• Coca-Cola’s senior vice president, Katie Bayne, claims that “[t]here is no scientific evidence that connects sugary beverages to obesity.” 
• “Coca-Cola is an excellent complement to the habits of a healthy life,” said former Coca-Cola chairman and CEO Douglas Ivester. 
• “There is no unique link between soda consumption and obesity,” claims a post on the ABA’s website.
• “Simply put, it is wrong to say beverages cause disease,” the ABA stated in another release. 
• Coke’s incoming CEO, James Quincey, equated sugar-sweetened beverages to any other calories, dismissing their unique contribution to the obesity epidemic by asserting such beverages contribute only two percent of calories overall.

Coca-Cola called the suit “legally and factually meritless.” In a prepared statement, the company said: “We take our consumers and their health very seriously and have been on a journey to become a more credible and helpful partner in helping consumers manage their sugar consumption."

The suit was filed in a California federal court Wednesday. 

There is one habit that all financially fit consumers have in common. They have a knack for managing debt.

This is especially important when it comes to using credit cards.

“Financially fit people use credit cards only when they have the ability to responsibly manage their debt,” Bruce McClary, Vice-president of Communication for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, told ConsumerAffairs. “Debt is usually handled in a way where payments are well above the minimum amount due in order to avoid a lengthy and costly repayment cycle.”

Paul Golden, spokesman for the National Endowment for Financial Education, says it's usually not a good idea to carry a balance on your credit cards from month to month.

“However, a good way to identify if you are in a safe or danger zone with debt is to look at your overall amount owed compared to your income,” Goldman said. “You should keep your debt at less than 20% of your income for credit cards, student loans, and car loans. In determining your credit score, your total amount owed relative to how much credit you have available accounts for 30% of your overall score.

Not all debt is bad

Diane Moogalian, Vice President of Customer Care at Equifax, says not all debt should be viewed as bad.

“For example, a mortgage – where you’re building equity – is often seen as good debt,” Moogalian said. “In addition, student loan debt, where a consumer is receiving a college education, may be interpreted as good debt.”

But she cautions that student loans can easily become “bad debt” if a borrower loses track of how much he or she owes, or doesn’t have a reasonable plan in place to pay it back.

As for credit cards, she says financially fit consumers understand the difference between a “want” and a “need.” They have a budget and they stick to it.

“I have never met a type of debt that I liked,” said Michelle Perry Higgins, Principal and Financial Planner of the California Financial Advisors.

When debt can increase your income

However, she concedes there are some cases where acquiring debt can actually increase your income and your net worth over time.

“Loans that pay for a college education are one of these 'good debts,'” she said. “Credit cards are examples of not so good debt if you fail to pay off the balance monthly and get hit with a whopping interest rate charge.”

In general, financially fit consumers use credit cards to their advantage. They pay off the balance each month to avoid paying any interest on their charges. Higgins says they also use rewards credit cards that earn miles or cash back. That way, the credit card company pays you, instead of the other way around.

Polaris Industries of Medina, Minn., is recalling about 9,900 Sportsman 570 all-terrain vehicles that may present a fire hazard.

The company has received 35 reports of damaged fuel rails and leaks. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves model year 2014 through 2016 Sportsman 570 Touring and X2 model ATVs and model year 2017 Sportsman 570 6x6 model ATVs. The recalled ATVs have one or two seats with four or six tires. “Sportsman” and the model type are printed on the side of the steering column and “Polaris” is printed near the front grill. The ATVs were sold in several colors.

The vehicle identification numbers (VIN) are printed on the front or rear frame near the back tire. 

The following vehicles are being recalled:

The ATVs, manufactured in the U.S. and Mexico, were sold at Polaris dealers nationwide from May 2013, through December 2016, for between $7,700 and $11,000.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled ATVs and contact Polaris to schedule a free repair. Polaris is contacting all known purchasers directly.

Consumers may contact Polaris at 800-765-2747 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday or online at www.polaris.com and click on “Off-Road Safety Recalls” at the bottom of the page for more information.

General Motors is recalling 327 model year 2016 Buick Envisions manufactured January 19, 2016, to March 18, 2016.

The master cylinder brake lines may crack and leak brake fluid, which could reduce braking performance and increase the risk of a crash.

What to do

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the master cylinder brake lines, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300. GM's number for this recall is 16169.

Consumers looking to lose weight may have spent countless hours in a sweltering gym trying to burn away excess fat. But is there an easier way to melt away the pounds that isn’t so labor-intensive and time consuming?

Perhaps not yet, but scientists at the University of Bonn believe that they have a potential answer. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer and his fellow researchers have been researching how to burn away fat for years, and a recent study using mice shows that making changes at the cellular level could make it possible.

The process involves converting unwanted white fat cells into brown slimming cells that consume energy. The difference between the cells is that the latter is packed with much more mitochondria, the so-called “power stations” of the cell. These extra reserves of mitochondria take white fat cells and use them to produce thermal energy, effectively burning them away.

During the study, the researchers converted white fat cells into brown slimming cells in mice and found that the subjects lost a significant amount of weight after the process was completed. Additionally, they found that combining this process with certain active ingredients reduced the number of white fat cells and increased the number of brown slimming cells, which accelerated the fat burning process. This gives some hope that this kind of therapy could be used to combat obesity and obesity-related health conditions, such as joint problems, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

Problems to work out

While the findings are encouraging, Pfeifer and his team say that there are some complications that need to be worked out with the process, specifically when used with obese subjects.

Currently, the use of the certain active ingredients kicks fat burning into overdrive, but certain types of fat have proven to be more resistant due to inflammation. Specifically, the researchers noted that subcutaneous fat – the kind found closest to the surface of the skin – was affected normally by the therapy, but deeper-lying abdominal fat was more problematic.

The researchers found that subjects with this deeper-lying fat had much more inflammation than those who didn’t, and that inflammation effectively shuts down and blocks the pathways that the therapy uses to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells. Additionally, the risk of this kind of inflammation is already high because it promotes cardiovascular diseases, which makes the problem twice as bad, the researchers said.

While a concrete solution has not yet materialized, researcher and lead author Abhishek Sanyal believes that halting the abdominal fat’s inflammatory response while simultaneously administering the therapy’s active ingredients could be a good starting point for tests.

The full study has been published in Cell Reports.

The beginning of a new year often signals a fresh start, so it might not be surprising that a new survey has found a lot of Americans expect to be working somewhere else by the time 2018 rolls around.

Jobs site CareerBuilder.com found 22% of people with jobs plan to find a new one during the next 12 months, a slight increase over last year. Younger workers in the survey were more likely to be planning a move.

"Whether it's unemployed people trying to find their way back to the workforce or those who are currently employed attempting an upgrade to greener pastures, a new year makes many people set their sights on job hunting," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder.

The takeaway for employers, says Haefner, is to stay in touch with the contentment level of key employees. She even suggests polling employees periodically to learn more about their goals and motivations and how they want to be treated.

Other resolutions for 2017

When asked about other goals for the coming year, 49% of employees said they want to save more of their money. Thirty-eight percent said they want to be less stressed and 20% plan to ask for a raise.

As for what employees should be resolving for 2017, Haefner suggests growing your network. Expand the usual roster of groups and try to grow your professional network even wider.

Brand-building is also big. Haefner suggests presenting a clear message of who you are and what attributes you bring to the table.

Don't neglect social media. Follow companies you like and engage with them at every opportunity. Consider writing a blog showcasing your career interests and expertise and make sure there are no embarrassing photos from yesteryear floating around on the internet that could come back to haunt you.

As for your chances of landing a new job in 2017, CareerBuilder says it will reveal some data on that later this week in its annual Jobs Forecast.  

Consumers who have their financial lives well in hand do a lot of simple things right, something the rest of us might emulate in the coming year.

Besides reviewing their credit report on a regular basis, they also review their budget. They measure income against expenses and plan for the future.

Author and financial planner Michelle Perry Higgins, principal of California Financial Advisors in San Ramon, Calif., says before you can do a budget analysis, however, you need a budget procedure that works for you.

“First, pick a method to track your income and outflow. Whether it is an Excel spreadsheet, a financial website, or an app on your phone, you need to have a means of tracking where your money is going,” she told ConsumerAffairs.

Higgins says you also need expense categories that make sense to you and set a limit for how much you want to spend in each category. Finally, keep track every penny that you spend.

Know where you've been

Bruce McClary, Vice President of Communications for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, says accurate tracking is important because it is easier to understand where you need to go if you have a better sense of where you have already been.

McClary recommends tracking all of your spending for at least a month to see if it reflects your budget goals.

“The second step is to review all sources of income, focusing on what you have left after payroll deductions like taxes and insurance,” he said. “Then you will want to review your debts, including balances and monthly payments. Once you have all of that information, you can see how much of your income is being allocated to each budget category including personal savings. If you have leftover money, you can determine how best to apply it toward debt repayment or savings.”

And financially fit consumers don't just do this one time. Diane Moogalian, Vice-president of Customer Care at Equifax, says it should be part of a monthly routine.

“If you analyze your budget at the start of a New Year, make changes, and set your budget, reviewing it once a month can be a helpful way to ensure you’re staying on track with the goals you set at the start of the year,” Moogalian said. “It may also be easier to course correct during the course of one month, versus waiting until you’re off track for several months at a time. Catching up is never an easy thing to do!”

Credit cards deserve extra attention

Paul Golden, spokesman for the National Endowment for Financial Education, says one area of budget analysis that may require special attention is credit card debt. He says credit card spending is either one of two things – it's a convenient substitute for cash, to be paid when the bill comes, or it's spending money you don't really have.

“Financially fit consumers understand the basics before using credit cards: knowing your spending habits – how will you use the card and will you be able to pay it off each month, what the interest rate is and how it is calculated, what are the fees and expenses associated with the card, and how the incentive program works,” Golden told ConsumerAffairs.

But if you are using a credit card to pay for things you don't have the money to pay for, you are simply digging a credit hole that could take years to get out of.

Financially fit consumers don't use credit cards that way, and neither should you.