Current Events in August 2018

In a new study done by Rutgers University, researchers evaluated YouTube selection of facial plastic surgery videos. The study shows that not only are most of the videos misleading to the public, but many are nothing more than marketing attempts posted by individuals not in the medical field.

Boris Paskhover, an assistant professor at Rutgers Medical School’s department of otolaryngology who specializes in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, was the lead author of the study, and worked with a team of medical students to evaluate over 240 YouTube videos. The videos had a combined 160 million views and were found after searching keywords including “ear surgery,” “rhinoplasty,” “nose job,” “lip fillers,” “dermal fillers,” “face fillers,” “face lift,” “lip augmentation,” and “blepharoplasty.”

Paskhover emphasized that millions of people turn to YouTube for answers, but consumers should be warned that the site does not include the potential risk factors or alternative options to surgery.

“Videos on facial plastic surgery may be mainly marketing campaigns and may not fully be intended as educational,” Paskhover said.

The study

When evaluating the videos, the researchers used DISCERN criteria, which is “a valid and reliable way of assessing the quality of written information on treatment choices for a health problem.” The criteria includes a discussion of non-surgical options, risks, and the validity of the information that’s presented. Additionally, the researchers noted if the people posting the videos were healthcare professionals or third parties.

The results showed that the majority of videos did not include qualified professionals who were explaining the procedure. In 94 of the videos evaluated, no medical professional was present at all. Contrastly, 72 videos included board-certified surgeons, provided valuable information, and came out with high DISCERN scores.

“However, even videos posted by legitimate board-certified surgeons may be marketing tools made to look like educational videos,” Paskhover said.

“Patients and physicians who use YouTube for educational purposes should be aware that these videos can present biased information, be unbalanced when evaluating risks versus benefits, and be unclear about the qualifications of the practitioner,” Paskhover continued. “YouTube is for marketing. The majority of the people who post these videos are trying to sell you something.”

YouTube’s plan to fight misinformation

Last month, YouTube rolled out a new plan to prevent users from uploading and spreading false information in times of crisis. The initiative was designed to help the public get accurate information.

The platform found that it would often become inundated with videos -- many of which were full of misinformation -- following an intense or explosive news cycle. Many people were just looking for the news, but the videos left them confused and misinformed.

“We’re making changes to put more authoritative content in front of people,” said Neal Mohan, YouTube’s chief product officer.

With the changes, YouTube’s recommendation engine has been altered to show news-related videos from reputable outlets to appear first.

“It’s very easy to quickly produce and upload low-quality videos spreading misinformation around a developing news event,” Mohan said.

One in 10 Airbnb hosts, or about 45,000 people nationwide, are teachers, according to a new study by Airbnb. Collectively, educators pulled in $160 million on the platform last year, with $54 million of that income earned between June 1 and August 31.

Airbnb's annual voluntary host survey, which included responses from 80,000 hosts worldwide, found that a sizable number of teachers, administrators, college professors, and educators who work in other settings are renting out their properties on the home-sharing site as a way to add to their annual classroom salary.

Among hosts who included the word "teacher" or "professor" in the employment or "about me" section on their profile, the average annual income from hosting was $6,500.

Hosting similar to teaching

Educators quoted in the report said taking on a second job as an Airbnb host helps ease the financial strain of living on a teacher’s salary, making it easier for them to save money, pay bills, or even go on a vacation.

Hosting also provides an opportunity to connect with travelers from around the world. And for many teachers, hosting comes naturally due to the fact that it entails sharing knowledge and compassion with others.

"In teaching, there are best practices one must observe and exercise—commitment, integrity, compassion, knowledge, and hospitality," said one teacher-host in the Airbnb report. "In hosting, one realizes that best practices are very similar when guests choose to stay at your place."

The new study follows a June analysis of federal jobs data, which found that nearly 20 percent of teachers have second jobs during the school year. Half of those teachers have jobs in fields outside of education.

In a May poll, nearly half of teachers said they are not satisfied with their teaching salaries.

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) is recalling 86 model yearn 2018 Mercedes-Benz CLA250s, CLA250 4Matics, and CLA45 AMG 4Matics.

The Occupant Classification System (OCS) may not be properly calibrated, resulting in the front passenger airbag not being deactivated if a child seat is in the front seat.

If a child seat is in the front seat and the passenger air bag is not deactivated in the event of a crash, the risk of injury can increase.

What to do

MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger seat cushion, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin October 3, 2018.

Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had approved Teva Pharmaceuticals’ generic versions of both the EpiPen and EpiPen Jr.  

The products will be the first generic competitor to Mylan’s EpiPen auto-injectors, which are still on the FDA’s list of drug shortages.

“Today’s approval of the first generic version of the most-widely prescribed epinephrine auto-injector in the U.S. is part of our longstanding commitment to advance access to lower cost, safe and effective generic alternatives once patents and other exclusivities no longer prevent approval,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

Widespread shortage

"This approval means patients living with severe allergies who require constant access to life-saving epinephrine should have a lower-cost option, as well as another approved product to help protect against potential drug shortages,” Gottlieb said.

Mylan, the maker of the EpiPen, introduced its own “authorized generic” version of the product in late 2016. However, the company faced criticism after consumers learned that the price of the emergency allergy drug had increased sixfold over a decade to more than $600 for a twin pack.

The ongoing EpiPen shortage is due to supply and manufacturer issues. An EpiPen competitor from Kaleo called AUVI-Q is not currently in shortage, but it is somewhat different from the EpiPen in terms of operation and dosing.

"These products can be hard to copy, and therefore sometimes don’t face timely generic competition once patents and exclusivities are no longer a block to approval," Gottlieb added.

“We’re applying our full resources to this important launch in the coming months and eager to begin supplying the market,” Teva said in a statement.

Teva has not said when the new generic will be available, nor has it provided price details. However, the competition of having more than one EpiPen alternative on the market could help drive down the cost of the drug.

Teva was approved to market the generic version in 0.3 mg and 0.15 mg strengths.

Cryptocurrency boosters love to characterize Bitcoin and others as “disruptive” to the established financial sector, but when it comes to robberies and heists, the two industries are starting to look more similar to each other.

Hackers have increasingly used vulnerabilities in the blockchain to steal other people’s hard-earned fake money, and one investor is pointing his finger at his cell phone provider.

A cryptocurrency investor named Michael Terpin filed a $224 million federal lawsuit against AT&T on Wednesday for what he describes as the “digital identity theft” of his cell phone account.

According to Terpin’s complaint, thieves convinced AT&T to forward his calls and messages to a SIM card belonging to a cyber criminal ring. The thieves then used the information they obtained about their target to steal $23.8 million worth of tokens from his account.

The remaining $200 million that Terpin is demanding from AT&T is for punitive damages. He says that AT&T failed to protect his account even after he reported unusual activity and got law enforcement involved.

An AT&T spokesman told Reuters that they are looking forward to fighting the allegations in court.

This isn’t the first time that SIM-swap scams on AT&T accounts have been linked to cryptocurrency theft. So-called SIM-swap scams work because they are relatively easy. Experts say it takes minimal effort to trick phone company employees into giving criminals what they need: a link between another person’s account and a new SIM card belonging to the criminal ring.  

With access to another person’s phone number, hackers can access messages and other sensitive information intended for the victim. Cryptocurrency investors have been an especially popular target of this scam.

One such scammer in Florida was arrested last week for allegedly leading a criminal ring that used SIM-swaps to steal money from people across the country.

ATM heist

In a confidential alert last Friday, the FBI reportedly released an unusual warning. International banking giants faced an imminent threat that cyber criminals would target their ATM machines, the FBI said.

One day later, that exact heist happened to a banking giant based in India. Hackers infected bank servers with malware, giving them the ability to approve their own transactions. They then used fake cards to withdraw money from 14,00 ATM machines across 28 countries. All of the ATM machines belong to the Cosmos Bank chain.

The corporation said that no consumer accounts were impacted, likely part of an effort to discourage people from cashing out on their entire bank accounts.

"We appeal customers to remain calm and not to get panic as savings, term deposits, recurring accounts of all the stakeholders are fully safe,” the Cosmos Bank chairman MIlind Kale told local media.

Cosmos doesn’t have ATMs in the United States, but money heists targeting traditional banks are also hitting increasingly closer to home. Bank giants in Canada and Mexico have both reported falling victim to hackers in recent months.

The somewhat strange claim that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was hit by a denial of service attack (DDoS), when it really wasn't, just got a little more strange.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says he knew the claim was false for more than six months, but was unable to speak out because an internal investigation was underway.

Originally, the FCC cited the alleged DDoS attack as the reason that many comments filed in relation to the FCC's rollback of net neutrality rules could not be recorded.

But last week the FCC Inspector General issued an extraordinary report finding that the agency lied about the attack that temporarily prevented net neutrality supporters from filing comments opposing Pai's plan to kill net neutrality rules.

The report concluded that the false claims were made primarily by former chief information officer David Bray, and Bray's false statements were sent to Congress in attachments to letters that Pai wrote to lawmakers.

Why he had to stay silent

At a Senate hearing this week, Pai told lawmakers he wanted to set the record straight, but couldn't.

"On January 23 of 2018, I was informed by my chief of staff, who had been informed by the Office of Inspector General, that they had suspicions that the former chief information officer's statements to us and to Congress were inaccurate," Pai told the committee. "The OIG then requested, because they had referred this matter for potential criminal prosecution to the Department of Justice, 'do not say anything to anyone.'"

Pai said the OIG's report cleared him of any wrongdoing because it found that the FCC's false statements were made by the CIO rather than by his office. Pai told the committee that he wanted to tell Congress earlier but was prevented in doing so by the OIG's request for secrecy.

The FCC rolled back the Obama-era net neutrality rules in December, though a few states have taken steps to enact their own internet protections.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that some pet owners may be stealing and misusing pain medications intended for their pets.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement on Wednesday that some pet owners are accessing and misusing drugs prescribed by veterinary medical professionals.

Drugs prescribed for suffering animals are “generally derived from morphine,” according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Gottlieb said these drugs carry potentially serious risk for humans who use them.

"We recognize that opioids and other pain medications have a legitimate and important role in treating pain in animals -- just as they do for people," Gottlieb said. "But just like the opioid medications used in humans, these drugs have potentially serious risks, not just for the animal patients, but also because of their potential to lead to addiction, abuse and overdose in humans who may divert them for their own use.”

Guide for veterinarians

The statement comes the same week the CDC issued preliminary numbers on opioid mortality rates in the U.S. On Wednesday, health officials said that more than 72,000 lives were lost due to opioids in 2017.

As the opioid crisis rages on, the FDA said it has developed a resource guide on what veterinarians need to know about responsible opioid prescribing. The guide includes information on state and federal regulations, alternatives to opioids, and how to properly safeguard and store opioids.

It also provides information on how to identify if a client or employee may be abusing opioids and what to do if that is suspected to be the case.  

"While each state creates its own regulations for the practice of veterinary medicine within its borders, including regulations about secure storage of controlled substances like opioids, veterinarians should also follow professional standards set by the American Veterinary Medical Association in prescribing these products to ensure those who are working with these powerful medications understand the risks and their role in combating this epidemic," Gottlieb said.

"Veterinarians are also required to be licensed by the Drug Enforcement [Administration] to prescribe opioids to animal patients, as are all health care providers when prescribing for use in humans," he said.

Combating the opioid crisis

Gottlieb added that these measures “help ensure the critical balance between making sure animals can be humanely treated for their pain, while also addressing the realities of the epidemic of misuse, abuse and overdose when these drugs are diverted and used illegally by humans."

The FDA's statement follows a perspective paper in the American Journal of Public Health, which included data from a small survey of 189 veterinarians in Colorado from 2016. The data showed that 13 percent of the veterinarians surveyed were aware of an animal owner who had intentionally made an animal ill or injured, or seem to be ill or injured, to obtain opioid medications.

The Kroger Company and robotics incubator Nuro is partnering with Fry's Food to operate a grocery delivery pilot. This pilot gives customers the freedom to shop for groceries from their computer or smartphone and get curbside delivery the same day.

Fry’s Food Stores, a Kroger subsidiary, gets the nod as the beta tester in this program. The pilot program will be at a single Fry’s store in Scottsdale, Arizona, and it became available for customers to try on Thursday.

"We're excited to launch our autonomous vehicle delivery pilot with Fry's in Scottsdale," said Kroger Chief Digital Officer Yael Cosset. "Kroger wants to bring more customers the convenience of affordable grocery delivery, and our pilot with Nuro will help us test and learn to understand customer acceptance of autonomous vehicles in our seamless offering."

How will this work?

The concept is a pretty simple one. Customers shop via frysfood.com or the Fry's Food Stores mobile app and place their order. They can schedule their grocery order for same-day or next-day delivery by Nuro's fleet of self-driving vehicles. There’s no minimum order, but there is a a flat fee of $5.95 to use the service.

Nuro will begin the pilot using its self-driving Toyota Prius fleet and will introduce its custom R1 driverless vehicle this fall.

This phase of the pilot program holds a lot of answers for all involved. At the top of that list is learning how customers interact with the vehicles in real-time.

“We believe that great technology should benefit everyone,” wrote Nuro’s founders Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu. “The team at Nuro is accelerating a future where robots make life easier and help us connect to the people and things we love. Together, we’re pushing the boundaries of robotics to improve human life.”

Ferguson and Zhu aren’t new to the self-driving world. They were both founding team members of the Google self-driving car project. They started Nuro in 2016 in hopes of marrying robotics and artificial intelligence to solve challenges in ways that haven’t been tried before.

Why Arizona?

Arizona has quickly gained a reputation of having a giant welcome mat for automated vehicles. Earlier this year, Uber’s self-driving truck fleet made Arizona’s highways the choice for its first road trip and Waymo pegged Arizona as its first market when it won approval for its commercial self-driving car service.

Arizona has a watchful eye on the driverless notion, though. In March, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey ordered an indefinite suspension of Uber's public road testing of driverless cars in the wake of a fatal accident involving one of its cars.

"In the best interests of the people of my state, I have directed the Arizona Department of Transportation to suspend Uber's ability to test and operate autonomous vehicles on Arizona's public roadways," Ducey wrote.

New York University (NYU) will begin offering medical students -- both new and current -- a scholarship that covers tuition. All students enrolled in the MD program are eligible for the scholarship, regardless of financial need or academic performance.

NYU announced the plan during its White Coat Ceremony yesterday, and in a statement following the event, the university reported it is “the only top 10-ranked medical school in the nation” to be offering free tuition to its students. The decision was “a bold effort to simultaneously address the rising costs of medical education and still attract the best and the brightest students to careers in medicine.”

NYU medical school tuition is roughly $55,000 per year, and there are currently 442 students enrolled in the program -- including the 102 new students starting their studies this fall semester. The plan, however, does not cover room and board or university fees, which are an additional $27,000 on average.

Thinking of the students  

As student debt continues to rise, many students are either veering away from the medical field entirely or are choosing to enter into more lucrative specialties, thus drawing talent away from lower-paying specialties like pediatrics, primary, and obstetrics and gynecology.

According to the American Association of Medicine, the average cost of a medical education at a private institution is $59,605. On average, students are graduating with $202,000 in debt; that number rises to over $300,000 if the student goes to private school. In 2017, 75 percent of all doctors in the United States graduated with debt.

“This decision recognizes a moral imperative that must be addressed, as institutions place an increasing debt burden on young people who aspire to become physicians,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, the Saul J. Farber Dean of NYU School of Medicine and CEO of NYU Langone. “A population as diverse as ours is best served by doctors from all walks of life, we believe, and aspiring physicians and surgeons should not be prevented from pursuing a career in medicine because of the prospect of overwhelming financial debt.”

Dr. Rafael Rivera, associate dean for admissions and financial aid, also noted that many grants and financial aid don’t become available to students until they’ve chosen a career path.

“That’s too late if we wish to expand the pipeline to bring forth the broadest, most talented group of students, and to give them the financial freedom to choose medicine over other careers,” Dr. Rivera said.

NYU is looking to make the scholarship available to students for 11 years. They have currently raised $450 million of the $600 million needed to create an endowment that would allow the university to offer the scholarship in perpetuity.

“We believe that with our tuition-free initiative, we have taken a necessary, rational step that addresses a critical need to train the most talented physicians, unencumbered by crushing debt,” said Dr. Grossman. “We hope that many other medical centers will soon choose to join us on this path.”

In late July, nearly 650 people who ate at a Chipotle restaurant in Powell, Ohio complained of food poisoning and diarrhea. Now, health officials have determined that a type of bacteria found in food left at unsafe temperatures was the cause of the outbreak.

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced on Thursday that it plans to retrain all of its restaurant workers nationwide on food safety.

"Chipotle has a zero-tolerance policy for any violations of our stringent food safety standards and we are committed to doing all we can to ensure it does not happen again," CEO Brian Niccol said in a statement.

"Once we identified this incident, we acted quickly to close the Powell restaurant and implemented our food safety response protocols that include total replacement of all food inventory and complete cleaning and sanitization of the restaurant," he said.

Retraining workers

The bacteria identified as the cause of the gastrointestinal symptoms is known as clostridium perfringens. It’s commonly found in beef, poultry, gravies, and dried or pre-cooked foods that "are prepared in large quantities and kept warm for a long time before serving," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC says the bacteria affects nearly 1 million people each year. The symptoms it causes are not contagious and usually go away within a day or two. Investigators are unsure whether a specific ingredient caused the problem, but testing is ongoing.

In addition to retraining employees, the company "will be adding to our daily food safety routines a recurring employee knowledge assessment of our rigorous food safety standards,” Niccol said.

The outbreak in Ohio is the latest of several food safety problems to hit Chipotle in recent years. In 2015, the burrito chain had to temporarily shut down more than 30 stores in six states after health officials traced E. coli to a common ingredient in its food.

The outbreak led to a federal investigation, as well as the implementation of new safety standards and food-handling procedures.

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published a study in the Journal of Science describing the genome of bread wheat.

Through a 13-year collaboration involving scientists from around the world, the group was able to achieve a task -- sequencing the wheat genome -- that many scientists considered to be impossible for years.

“Wheat is one of the major sources of food for much of the world. However, because bread wheat’s genome is a large hybrid mix of three separate subgenomes, it has been difficult to produce a high-quality reference sequence,” the scientists wrote.

“Using recent advances in sequencing, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium presents an annotated reference genome with a detailed analysis of gene content among subgenomes and the structural organization for all the chromosomes.”

What this means for consumers

An organism’s genome is a detailed roadmap containing all the information needed to build and maintain it. Scientists and farmers are now privy to the genes and factors responsible for traits including grain quality, wheat yield, tolerance to environmental stress, and resistance to fungal diseases. With this information, they will be able to create stronger wheat varieties.

This goal of sequencing the wheat genome was of particular importance because of food security. Wheat is the most widely-grown crop around the world, and with recent heat waves in northern Europe, Asia, and Canada, the wheat production for 2018 will be compromised. Additionally, pests, climate change, and salinity have been known to destroy crops.

“It was ambitious but it was important for me that wheat wasn’t seen as being the poor cousin in the area of genome sequencing,” said Professor Rudi Appels, Agriculture Victoria honorary research fellow and IWGSC contributor. “I was always hopeful it could be done.

“I thought wheat deserved to be as well-defined as the human genome and then the technology really developed enormously. Suddenly, what was once literally impossible looked achievable, and I wanted to be there and capture new technologies as they came through. Things that used to take years can now be done overnight.”

Appels also noted that this advancement could eventually be used to help treat and diagnose wheat-related allergies and diseases. It could also produce wheat crops that contain lower levels of the proteins known to make people sick.

“I am really thrilled, because after 13 years of efforts with the whole wheat community we have reached our major milestone,” said Dr. Catherine Feuillet, co-author of the article and chief scientist at Inari Agriculture. “The vision we had is now becoming concrete, we have a high-quality reference sequence that can be used to accelerate wheat research and breeding.”

Motorists are benefiting from rising oil stockpiles, keeping refining costs stable. The AAA Fuel Gauge Survey shows the national average price of regular gasoline is $2.85 a gallon, a penny less than last week.

The average price of premium, used in an increasing number of high-performance cars, held steady at $3.40 a gallon. The average price of diesel fuel also remained the same as last week, at $3.15 a gallon.

Prices at the pump have virtually flatlined in the final third of the summer driving season, helped by ample supplies. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday that U.S. crude oil stockpiles surged by 6.8 million barrels in the last week, an exceptionally large increase during periods of peak demand.

U.S. oil supplies are still significantly below where they were a year ago, but last summer gasoline prices were about 50 cents a gallon lower than they are now. But while prices are higher than they were last summer, they've also been remarkably stable.

“With a flat national average, U.S. gasoline supply and demand suggest they are balancing,” said Jeanette Casselano, a spokesperson for AAA. “But that’s not to say that we could not see spikes in demand closer to Labor Day as motorists squeeze in those final road trips.”

Even though the national average has been stable, some individual states have seen price swings of five to 10 cents a gallon in the last week. Michigan motorists saw a price drop that averaged nine cents a gallon.

The states with the most expensive regular gas

The following states currently have the most expensive regular gas prices on average, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey.

• Hawaii ($3.77)

• California ($3.59)

• Washington ($3.38)

• Alaska ($3.35)

• Oregon ($3.26)

• Nevada ($3.18)

• Idaho ($3.23)

• Utah ($3.14)

• Connecticut ($3.05)

• Pennsylvania ($3.05)

The states with the cheapest regular gas

These states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas, the survey found.

• Alabama ($2.55)

• South Carolina ($2.55)

• Mississippi ($2.56)

• Arkansas ($2.58)

• Missouri ($2.58)

• Texas ($2.60)

• Virginia ($2.61)

• Oklahoma ($2.61)

• Louisiana ($2.62)

• Tennessee ($2.62)

Consumers shopping for a minivan often have safety in mind since these vehicles are mostly used by young families.

With that in mind, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) put three popular minivans through the paces and gave the Honda Odyssey and Chrysler Pacifica its Top Safety Pick rating, but the third vehicle, the Toyota Sienna, fell short of the rating's standard.

The Odyssey did best in the side overlap crash tests with what the judges called a "strong" performance. The Pacifica squeaked by with an "acceptable" rating. But the Sienna's performance was characterized as "marginal."

When just the front corner of a vehicle strikes another car or object, that's considered a small overlap crash. They're fairly common and were responsible for many deaths and serious injuries before automakers focused their efforts on making these parts of the vehicle more sturdy and secure.

The video below, produced by IIHS, illustrates it very well.

Significant improvements

IIHS has tested vehicles for how they protect front seat occupants since 2012 and says carmakers have made significant improvements. Getting at least an acceptable rating on overlap crash tests is a requirement for any vehicle to earn an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating.

"In our latest passenger-side tests, we didn't find any performance issues with safety belts or airbags like we did when we evaluated small and midsize SUVs earlier this year and midsize cars last year," said David Zuby, IIHS' chief research officer. "Instead, we saw some structural deficiencies on the right side that still need addressing."

IIHS says Toyota began making changes to the Sienna's structure in 2015, resulting in improved protection for the driver side. However, it didn't make the same modifications on the passenger side.

Problems on the passenger side

As a result, IIHS says the Sienna's structure rates poor in the passenger-side test.

"A safety cage must be strong enough to resist intrusion in a crash to protect the people inside, no matter where they sit in the vehicle," Zuby said.

In the case of the Sienna, the IIHS tests found objects hitting the passenger side intruded as much as 20 inches into the lower occupant compartment and more than 16 inches at the dashboard.

IIHS says the Pacifica also had issues on the front passenger side but that sensors from the crash dummies suggested a low risk of injury, helping to offset its less than perfect structural rating.

Salt & Straw Ice Cream is recalling a limited number of its Chocolate Gooey Brownie ice cream pints.

The product may contain peanuts, an allergen not declared on the label.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.

The following product, sold in Salt & Straw ice cream shops in California, Oregon & Washington, and through www.saltandstraw.com between from July 17, 2018, and August 13, 2018. Is being recalled:

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product and have a sensitivity or allergy to peanuts, should discard it or return it to the store when purchased for a full refund.

Online customers should email human@saltandstraw.com for a refund.

Consumers with questions may call (833) 971-2828.

www.saltandstraw.com

Salt & Straw Ice Cream is recalling Chocolate Gooey Brownie ice cream pints that may contain peanuts, an allergen not declared on the label.

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) is recalling 345 model year 2018 Mercedes-Benz E300, E300 4Matic, E43 AMG 4Matic, E400 4Matic, E63S AMG 4Matic+, and model year 2019 CLS450 4Matic vehicles.

The Occupant Classification System (OCS) may not be properly calibrated, resulting in the front passenger airbag not being deactivated if a child seat is in the front seat.

If a child seat is in the front seat and the passenger airbag is not deactivated, the risk of injury can increase.

What to do

MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger seat cushion, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin October 3, 2018.

Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.

An international defense contractor that hopes to expand into the United States just landed an important new customer: the public transit system in  the second largest city in the country.

In a press conference on Monday, the Los Angeles Metro announced that it will be the first public transit agency to use body scanners operated by a firm called ThruVision.

L.A. Metro was encouraged by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to buy the machines.

“TSA applauds the leadership of L.A. Metro for its proactive efforts to evaluate, procure, and use state-of-the-art technology designed to detect potential threats to the transit system,” the TSA said in an announcement.  

Different from other TSA machines, officials claim

Despite the TSA’s involvement, L.A. public transit officials assured riders that the machines will have little in common with the controversial body scanners (operated by a different TSA contractor) that have become ubiquitous at every airport in the United States.

L.A. Metro officials claim that ThruVision’s devices, which are portable and can be used remotely, can screen 2,000 people at a time without revealing anatomical details. The machines also do not emit any radiation, officials say.

“When an object is hidden in clothing or strapped to a person, these waves are blocked and detected by the system’s software,” Los Angeles Metro said in a news release.

Above the belt or under the pocket

The technology is capable of detecting any objects that are hidden underneath clothes, Kevin Gramer, the company’s Vice President of Operations in the Americas, tells ConsumerAffairs.

Gramer says that only objects hidden in waistbands or underneath pant pockets would be likely to attract attention from mass transit officers.

"If there's something unique, it may present some kind of questioning from an officer,” Gramer tells ConsumerAffairs.

For instance, "if you decided to carry your iPad in your waistband...we would see the iPad, and the iPad, I would say, would cause somebody concern.”

“But people generally don't carry their iPads in that area,” Gramer adds.

ThruVision also has corporate and border agency clients that use the technology to screen people for cash, drugs, or stolen retail, among other items. But L..A. Metro says that the technology in this case will only be used to search for terror threats.

"This particular technology is specifically screening for objects that potentially create mass casualty,” L.A. Metro spokesman David Sotero tells ConsumerAffairs. “So it screens for metallic and non-metallic objects that are strapped to a person.”

Who is ThruVision?

ThruVision began promoting portable devices with the ability to see through clothes without revealing anatomical details nearly a decade ago. The company promised that its “passive object detection” software would eventually be less intrusive and much faster than the traditional scanners used at airport security.

Rather than inspecting each person passing through security individually, an officer using the software can remotely screen numerous people at the same time, according to the company’s promotional material.

ThruVision’s former parent company, a British firm called Digital Barriers, has described itself as a leader in the facial recognition market. That company claims to be the first to have invented body cameras for police officers that have facial recognition capabilities.

Still, Digital Barriers said that sales were disappointing in 2017, so it decided to separate into two companies.

From anti-terror to catching theft

Its “people-screening business,” as the company characterized the ThruVision division, began to show promise outside of the anti-terrorism market last year.

In its 2017 annual report, Digital Barriers described how ThruVision machines could also be used to find cash, drugs, or stolen retail. Such capabilities meant that ThruVision could market its machines for other purposes besides combating terrorism.

“ThruVision was originally developed for the counter-terrorism market but has now also demonstrated applicability in other markets, namely customs applications (to prevent cash and narcotics smuggling) and loss-prevention (to prevent theft from warehouses),” the company’s annual report from last year said.

That marketing strategy appeared to be a success. This year, the company says it has turned things around. In its 2018 annual report, ThruVision announced that it sold a record amount of scanners -- thanks to the TSA’s help.

ThruVision recently passed a round of TSA tests, the firm said, helping it land business in Saudi Arabia.

“By volume, our biggest sales came from a new customer in Saudi Arabia, attracted by TSA publicity,” ThruVision said.

The machines sell for roughly $100,000 each, Gramer tells ConsumerAffairs. He declined to say how many ThruVision machines were sold to L.A. Metro.  

In the private sector, ThruVision now claims that its technology has cut employee theft by as much as 80 percent. It now counts Sony and JD Sport among private clients that use the scanners to look for stolen inventory hidden on employees.

"We call that a virtual pat-down,” Gramer says of the anti-theft technology.

Firm says tech will be used differently in subway stations

As for mass transit, the scanners are also currently getting tested by the New York City MTA, though that agency has not yet indicated whether it will purchase the technology.

In Los Angeles, riders have already voiced concerns online that the machines would lead to profiling or arrests of people for non-violent claims.

However, Gramer says the “pocket clutter” that the company’s private sector clients look for is unlikely to interest police officers working at subway stations.

As far as subway stations go, "anything that's above the waist or below the pocket clutter is going to cause concern for an officer to look at,” Gramer says.

L.A. Metro has not yet disclosed when the technology will officially roll out. A local CBS news report only indicates that it will happen sometime in the coming months.

Sotero, the L.A. Metro spokesman, tells ConsumerAffairs that passengers will not miss their trains or be stopped in order for the technology to work.

"They won't be delayed in catching their transit service,” Sotero says.

And as for concerns that the technology could be used to combat low-level crimes like petty theft, Sotero says that "what you’re describing is not what this technology is intended to be used for.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly issued a subpoena to Tesla, suggesting the company is under official investigation by the regulator.

The subpoena was reported by Fox Business and the New York Times; the outlets say the subpoena concerns CEO Elon Musk's assertion in a tweet that he was considering taking the company private, buying out public shareholders at $420 a share, and that funding is "secured."

The Times cites sources familiar with the matter, but the SEC has declined to comment.

Musk has been in a months-long Twitter war with investors who have "shorted" Tesla, betting that the stock price will fall. They make money if it does but they lose money if the stock price goes up.

Aug. 7 tweet

Musk's Aug. 7 tweet, sent while the market was open for business, caused the stock price to surge by 11 percent, meaning short-sellers took a hit. However, Musk has been unable to provide any evidence that he had secured funding at the time the tweet was sent and Tesla board members appeared to be in the dark about the entire matter.

Musk subsequently said he left a meeting with Saudi investors convinced that they would provide the needed capital for the buyout, but as former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt has pointed out, that is not the same as having a legally enforceable agreement, which the law requires when public statements of this sort are made.

Second whistleblower?

At the same time, a second former Tesla employee has come forward, claiming the company silenced her and her team members when they brought up what they said were important safety and quality issues. Cristina Balan has told Business Insider that she was pushed out at Tesla in 2014 after she and her design team alerted company executives about what they described as poor part quality and waste.

Her story comes on the heels of former Tesla employee Martin Tripp's assertions which follow the same lines. Tesla has sued Tripp and charged him with breaking into the company's computer network. Tripp has counter sued and has sought whistleblower status with the SEC.

Linette Lopez, the Business Insider reporter who broke Tripp's story, is also the author of the story airing Balan's claims. She writes that her requests to Tesla for comment went unanswered.

Meanwhile, Tripp has tweeted out photos and documents that he says show a damaged battery module used in Model 3 cars. Technology site Engadget has published the text of Tripp's tweets, including a list of Vehicle Identification Numbers of affected cars.

In an apples-to-apples comparison of paid time off, the United States trails the rest of the world by a vast margin. Truth is, the U.S. is the only major nation that doesn’t guarantee workers any paid vacation time.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a group focused on promoting policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world, found that employees in most countries are entitled to a minimum of 20 days off a year outside of public holidays, which ratchets that number up to 30-35 when they’re included.

The United Kingdom (UK) rules the roost in this department, with 37 total days of paid time off between the 28 days for annual leave and the 9 days for public holidays. France and Spain came in close behind by allowing 36 total days off, with Germany, Chili, and South Korea all doling out 30+ days a year to their workers. Another six notches down, at #12, is where you’ll find the U.S. earning the title of the “no vacation nation.”

“Relying on businesses to voluntarily provide paid leave just hasn’t worked. It’s a national embarrassment that 28 million Americans -- 1 in 4 private sector workers -- don’t get any paid vacation or paid holidays,” said John Schmitt, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and co-author of the Center’s on-going analysis of the subject.

The Center’s study also notes that a good number of foreign countries offer added time off for younger and older workers, shift workers, and those performing community service.

Vacation shame

According to research from Alamo Rent A Car, the bulk of working Millennials feel shamed for taking time off work. “Vacation shame” is an all too familiar feeling for nearly half of U.S. workers, but the Millennial demographic is the group most likely to harbor that feeling.

“We all want job security and don’t want to be seen as easily replaceable,” is the Millennials take, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

“We think we have to suffer through our burnout and ‘do our time.’ We tell ourselves that going to the tropics and sipping margaritas is not the responsible thing to do. That’s why colleagues planning vacations are met with the onslaught of snarky ‘must be nice’ comments.”

Productivity is a double-edged sword. Getting one’s job done is praiseworthy, but taking time off has shown to have positive benefits for both workers and their employers.

“Although it seems counter-intuitive, workers who use their vacation time are more productive and return from vacations more creative and with better ideas,” wrote Jenna Kressler in a post for Canada’s Occupational Safety Group.

662 million unused vacation days

According to a report by Project Time Off, American workers leave a considerable number of vacation days unused -- 662 million in fact.

The folks in Idaho top that list of most unused vacation, with 78 percent of workers passing up the chance to take their time off. Hoisting the banner of good work ethic, more than 30 percent of the Idahoan workers surveyed said they were concerned about showing “complete dedication to their job,” which dampened their desire to taking time away.

On the flip side, only 38 percent of Maine workers left vacation days on the table, with more than half of those surveyed revealing that their company encourages time off.