Current Events in March 2019

Tyson Foods of Rogers, Ark., is recalling approximately 69,093 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips

The products may be contaminated with extraneous materials -- specifically pieces of metal.

There are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following frozen, ready-to-eat chicken items, produced on November 30, 2018, are being recalled:

• 25-oz. plastic bag packages of frozen “Tyson FULLY COOKED BUFFALO STYLE CHICKEN STRIPS CHICKEN BREAST STRIP FRITTERS WITH RIB MEAT AND BUFFALO STYLE SAUCE” with “BEST IF USED BY NOV 30 2019,” case codes 3348CNQ0317 and 3348CNQ0318, and individual bag time stamps from 17:00 through 18:59 hours (inclusive).
• 25-oz. plastic bag packages of frozen “Tyson FULLY COOKED CRISPY CHICKEN STRIPS CHICKEN BREAST STRIP FRITTERS WITH RIB MEAT” with “BEST IF USED BY NOV 30 2019,” case codes 3348CNQ0419, 3348CNQ0420, 3348CNQ0421, and 3348CNQ0422, and individual bag time stamps from 19:00 through 22:59 hours (inclusive).
• 20-lb. cases of frozen “SPARE TIME FULLY COOKED, BUFFALO STYLE CHICKEN STRIPS CHICKEN BREAST STRIP FRITTERS WITH RIB MEAT AND BUFFALO STYLE SAUCE” with “BEST IF USED BY NOV 30 2019,” and case code 3348CNQ03.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “P-7221” on the back of the product package, were shipped to retail locations nationwide and for institutional use in locations in Michigan and Washington.

What to do

Consumers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Tyson Foods consumer relations at (866) 886-8456.

Volkswagen Group of America is recalling 3,326 model year 2018 Audi A3 sedans and RS3s.

The latching pins for the center rear seat head restraint may be missing.

In the event of a crash, the head restraint may detach and cause injury to the vehicle occupants.

What to do

Audi has notified owners, and dealers will inspect the head restraints, replacing any that are missing pins free of charge.

The recall began on March 7, 2019.

Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 72I8.

Facebook has another privacy headache to contend with.

The company reveals that millions of Facebook users had their passwords stored in plain text and searchable by Facebook personnel, going back to 2012. Facebook said the discovery was made in January as part of a routine security review.

In a statement, Pedro Canahuati, Facebook’s vice president of Engineering, Security and Privacy, said the passwords were not accessible by the general public and there is no evidence that Facebook employees abused their access. He said the issue has been fixed and that affected users will be hearing from Facebook.

“We estimate that we will notify hundreds of millions of Facebook Lite users, tens of millions of other Facebook users, and tens of thousands of Instagram users,” Canahuati said.

Facebook Lite is a version of Facebook predominantly used by people in regions with lower connectivity.

The technology blog KrebsOnSecurity cites a source as saying as many as 20,000 Facebook employees may have access to the unencrypted passwords. The company says there is no evidence any employee intentionally searched for a user’s password.

‘Security glitches’

Krebs says Facebook is conducting an internal investigation of “a series of security glitches” in which employees built applications that logged unencrypted password data for Facebook users and stored it in plain text on internal company servers.

This news comes at a bad time for Facebook. Just last week, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department is looking into data deals Facebook has worked out with some of the world’s largest tech companies.

Canahuati said the password issue came to light because it ran counter to company policy. He says best security practices require the masking of user passwords when they create an account so that no one at the company can see them.

“In security terms, we ‘hash’ and ‘salt’ the passwords, including using a function called ‘scrypt’ as well as a cryptographic key that lets us irreversibly replace your actual password with a random set of characters,” Canahuati said. “With this technique, we can validate that a person is logging in with the correct password without actually having to store the password in plain text.”

While no password reset is required, Canahuati says users may change their passwords by going to “settings” on Facebook and Instagram.

Independent security researchers have discovered that hackers planted malware to steal credit card information from people who shopped online at MyPillow and AmeriSleep.

The hackers accessed the credit card systems in April 2017 and stayed on the site for several months, according to researchers with the firm RiskQ.

After RiskQ made its results public, MyPillow confirmed in a statement to CENT that it detected the breach back in 2017.

MyPillow says it never alerted consumers earlier because MyPillow "found no indication that the breach was effective or that any customers' information was compromised,” the company’s CEO said.

AmeriSleep has yet to release a statement explaining why it didn’t alert the public earlier.

Facebook employees

Facebook is admitting that its employees had access to millions of users’ Facebook passwords, but only after the site Krebs on Security reported on its discovery. Security expert Brian Krebs said that Facebook stored the personal passwords in unencrypted form on a company server that could be viewed by anyone who worked for Facebook.

Facebook confirmed that it discovered it was storing the unencrypted passwords during a “routine security review” conducted in January. The company says it has since fixed the error.

“To be clear, these passwords were never visible to anyone outside of Facebook and we have found no evidence to date that anyone internally abused or improperly accessed them,” the company responded in a blog post.

Government contractor

Iranian-backed hackers recently targeted Citrix, a communications agency that often contracts with the United States government, according to the FBI. 

“While our investigation is ongoing, based on what we know to date, it appears that the hackers may have accessed and downloaded business documents,” Citrix said in a statement.

“The specific documents that may have been accessed, however, are currently unknown. At this time, there is no indication that the security of any Citrix product or service was compromised.”

Tax filing day will be here before you know it -- and scammers know it, too.

Have you received a call where the caller ID says “IRS” or a voicemail that says “We are reaching you to inform you that the IRS is filing a lawsuit against you”? Or worse, has someone warned you that you’re about to be arrested or deported for failure to pay back taxes?

The good news is that it’s not the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calling and threatening you.

Forewarned is forearmed

ConsumerAffairs recently covered email phishing scams from people pretending to be the IRS. Now that we’re getting close to April 15, scammers are resorting to phone calls to con unsuspecting consumers.

In an effort to give consumers the necessary insight to better detect imposters and phone scams, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has partnered with AARP to produce a series of tips on how consumers can save themselves from being scammed.

You’ll get a good idea of how these calls sound in the video below, which will hopefully give you an advantage at spotting and avoiding the scammers.

If you do get such a call, the IRS suggests you take the following steps:

• Hang up. Don’t give personal or financial information to someone claiming to be from the IRS. If in doubt, call the IRS directly at 1-800-428-1040.

• Don’t send money by wire transfer, prepaid card, or gift card to someone claiming to be from the IRS. That’s a scam. The IRS will not require a specific type of payment.

• Report the call. Report phony IRS calls to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at tigta.gov or to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. The more the agency hears from you, the more it can help fight scams.

• Tell your community. Let your family and friends know about IRS imposters.

Note that the IRS does not do...

The IRS knows it doesn’t have the sunniest of personas and tries to use kid gloves when dealing with the taxpayer. To that end, here’s what the IRS doesn’t do:

• Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card, or wire transfer. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes.

• Demand that you pay taxes without the opportunity to question or appeal the amount it says you owe. You should also be advised of your rights as a taxpayer.

• Threaten to bring in local police, immigration officers, or other law enforcement to have you arrested for not paying. The IRS also cannot revoke your driver’s license, business licenses, or immigration status. Threats like these are common tactics that scam artists use to trick victims into buying into their schemes.

And the tax preparer you’re using?

As if scammers showing up in your email in-box and on your phone aren’t enough, consumers should take extra precautions when enlisting the services of a tax preparer.

Taxpayers are likely to let their guard down a bit as we get closer to the filing date, and that’s even more of a reason to double-check the validity of whom you choose to prepare your taxes. Picking a tax preparer off a flyer on a bulletin board or a sign in someone’s yard might land you in the pocket of a rogue tax preparer.

If you’re looking for someone to do your taxes, take a few minutes to read ConsumerAffairs’ coverage of how to spot a “rogue” tax preparer. It could save you money, hassle... and a real contact from the IRS.

AT&T’s controversial “5G E” network, which has been slammed by consumers and competitors as being nothing more than a marketing stunt, may be slower than other networks from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile, according to a report from OpenSignal.

AT&T has described “5G E” -- which stands for 5G Evolution -- as being its “first step on the road to 5G,” adding that it’s “starting by enabling faster speeds on our existing LTE network—up to 2x faster than standard LTE.”

However, when comparing the speeds of AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile, OpenSignal found that 5G E was slower than services from Verizon and T-Mobile that use similar enhanced 4G technologies.

“AT&T users with a 5G E-capable smartphone receive similar speeds to users on other carriers with the same smartphone models that AT&T calls 5G E. The 5G E speeds which AT&T users experience are very much typical 4G speeds and not the step-change improvement which 5G promises," the report said.

“The little ‘5G E’ icon in the status bar of your Android device means nothing, as you would get slightly better speeds on Verizon’s or T-Mobile’s 4G LTE networks with that same device,” Android Authority noted.

AT&T responds

In response to the findings, AT&T said OpenSignal's method was flawed.

"Speed test data purporting to show the 'real-world experience of 5G Evolution' without verifying the capable devices were tested in a 5G Evolution coverage area as shown by the indicator does not accurately represent the 5G Evolution user experience," the company said in a statement to CNET.

Opensignal found that AT&T's 5G E experience was faster than its other offerings, but the firm suggested that it would make sense to label it differently, such as by calling it 4G Plus or Enhanced.

"If one service is offering a meaningful boost over another, it's not unreasonable for it to be labeled differently, just not with a name that confuses customers," Opensignal CEO Brenden Gill said in a statement.

As consumers embrace meal kits, food delivery services, and other quick and easy alternatives to dining out at sit-down establishments, many restaurant chains are struggling to stay relevant.

Bankruptcy filings have been made by restaurants including Bertucci’s, Logan’s Roadhouse, Real Mex Restaurants, fast casual Noon Mediterranean, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Scotty’s Brewhouse, Ruby’s Diner, and Iron Chef Jose Garces.

“Bankruptcies aren’t anything new in the industry, but they’ve been proliferating at a rapid pace, compared to more sporadic declarations 10 years ago,” writes Gary M. Stern for FSR Magazine.

Consumer demand for restaurants is waning as the plethora of convenient food delivery options continues to grow.

In an interview with FSR, Dave Bennett, CEO of Mirus Restaurant Solutions, a restaurant software specialist, noted that many restaurants are simply having trouble evolving to meet changing consumer preferences.

Competition from food delivery companies

Competition from third-party delivery companies, as well as from the availability of prepared dinners from grocery stores including Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, and Kroger, has led to bankruptcy for restaurants that haven’t adapted to delivery, he said.

“It’s not in their DNA to do delivery. They don’t understand packaging and logistics. Their mindset is full service at the table,” explained Darren Tristano, CEO of Foodservice Results, a Chicago, Illinois-based restaurant research firm.

Tristano cited Chili’s, which has expanded its delivery options and boosted revenue as a result, as an exception.

As for what’s next for the restaurant industry, Bennett said he “could almost see it splitting into two industries: retail-focused and convenience, where the food is brought to you.”

For bankrupt restaurant chains aiming to recover from a sales slump, Tristano recommended taking the following course of action.

“One, change the leadership to reinvigorate the brand; two, close as many underperforming restaurants as possible; and three, re-evaluate the menu, price points, ingredients, and cost structure,” he said.

T-Mobile has started testing an in-home internet service that will cost consumers $50 per month.

Initially, the service will only be available to “a limited few T-Mobile customers” on an invite-only basis. The company says its goal is to connect up to 50,000 households this year, mainly in rural and underserved markets.

T-Mobile said its plan to deploy 5G home internet on a larger scale is riding on the approval of its pending merger with Sprint. The service will eventually be supported by the faster 5G network, which the companies have argued can only be deployed if the merger is cleared.

“If T-Mobile’s pending merger with Sprint is approved, with the added scale and capacity of the New T-Mobile, the Un-carrier plans to cover more than half of U.S. households with 5G broadband service – in excess of 100 Mbps – by 2024,” the company said in a press release.

In response to concerns that the merger will limit competition and raise costs for consumers, the carrier has repeatedly claimed that the opposite will be true. In its announcement of the pilot, T-Mobile once again highlighted the potential savings for consumers.

“Today, consumers typically pay around $80 per month for wired in-home broadband service – $960 per year. Thanks to lower prices and more competition, one economist estimates that the New T-Mobile will save customers up to $13.65 billion a year on home broadband by 2024,” the T-Mobile said.

Aiming to fight ‘Big Cable’

The company said it has already started sending invitations to customers eligible to participate in the pilot. Customers won’t have to pay for the LTE receiver / router that will be sent to them by T-Mobile. However, they will have to set it up themselves.

Next week, the FCC will take its final round of comments on the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. The pilot appears to be a way of demonstrating how the combined company can eventually use 5G connectivity to provide internet that is capable of competing with cable companies.

“Two weeks ago, I laid out our plans for home broadband with the New T-Mobile. Now, we’re already hard at work building toward that future,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. “We’re walking the walk and laying the foundation for a world where we can take the fight to Big Cable on behalf of consumers and offer real choice, competition and savings to Americans nationwide.”

Consumers willing to move in order to purchase an affordable entry-level home have two good choices -- Tampa and Las Vegas.

Young people, especially, know full well the challenges of purchasing that first home. You have to save for a down payment while seeing your rent go up each year. With shrinking home listings, it’s sometimes hard to even find a home in your price range.

Then, when you do find a house you like and can afford, you face competition from other first-time buyers who might be willing to pay a little more than you are. But if you’re willing to move to another town, the housing experts at Zillow say both Tampa and Las Vegas offer some real opportunities.

Each year, Zillow ranks the 35 largest housing markets for being friendly to first-time buyers who are willing to pack up and move to get the home of their dreams -- at least the starter home of their dreams. For the second year in a row, Tampa came out on top.

First-time buyers need a market where there are plenty of smaller, less-expensive homes. These are exactly the types of homes that have been in short supply for the last five years, but Zillow says that trend appears to be reversing a bit. Home sales are down and the inventory of starter homes has finally begun to rise.

Shortage is easing

"The shortage of starter homes across the country is finally starting to ease, and that's good news for would-be first-time buyers who have been saving up to make the leap into homeownership," said Skylar Olsen, Zillow's director of economic research. "Unfortunately, prices of homes in the lower third of the market have risen so much in recent years that for many households' budgets they no longer qualify as affordable. But markets like Tampa and Las Vegas still provide plenty of bargains."

Both of those markets got hit hard during the housing crash a decade ago and prices, while recovering, are still below their housing bubble highs. Tampa has its share of million dollar homes, but it also has a relatively large inventory of smaller homes priced well below $200,000.

Inventories are up 1 percent

That trend could spread to other parts of the country in the months ahead. Zillow reports that slowing sales have driven up inventory levels by 1 percent over the last 12 months. According to the real estate marketplace, it’s the first time in five years that the spring home-buying season has begun with rising inventory levels.

In even better news for first-time buyers -- especially those with no desire to move to another town -- the inventory of less-expensive starter homes is leading the increase, rising 4.1 percent after being down 12.9 percent last year.

But Zillow cautions that even with this change, there still are not enough homes for sale to meet buyer demand, and the market remains competitive.

While many consumers suffer with insomnia, healthcare experts have long struggled to give their patients effective treatment options.

However, researchers from Oxford University recently found that a process in the brain known as oxidative stress affects both sleep and aging. The finding could create new avenues for insomnia treatments.

“It’s no accident that oxygen tanks carry explosion hazard labels: uncontrolled combustion is dangerous,” said researcher Gero Miesenböck. “Animals, including humans, face a similar risk when they use oxygen they breathe to convert food into energy: imperfectly contained combustion leads to ‘oxidative stress’ in the cell. This is believed to be a cause of ageing and culprit for the degenerative diseases that blight our later years. Our new research shows that oxidative stress also activates the neurons that control whether we go to sleep.”

Studying sleep

To see how oxidative stress was affecting the aging process and sleep schedules, the researchers studied the sleep cycles of fruit flies.

The researchers were most interested in evaluating special neurons that control sleep, as previous studies have shown that they behave much like light switches -- turning on and off during sleeping and waking hours.  

According to researcher Dr. Seoho Song, the group wanted to “look for the signals that switch the sleep-control neurons on,” and that they already knew that “a main difference between sleep and waking is how much electrical current flows through two ion channels, called Shaker and Sandman.”

The researchers were trying to discover what caused the neurons to signal to the brain that it was either time to sleep or time to be awake. They soon learned that a molecule -- known as NADPH -- rests under the Shaker ion channel, and its role is to regulate the Shaker channel.

The researchers put this finding to the test and discovered that switching the chemical state of the NADPH molecule was effective in putting the fruit flies right to sleep. The team believes that a pill could be created to prompt this process, which may be effective for treating insomnia and other sleeping disorders.

“Sleep disturbances are very common, and sleeping pills are among the most commonly prescribed drugs” said Miesenböck. “But existing medications carry risks of confusion, forgetfulness, and addiction. Targeting the mechanism we have discovered could avoid some of these side effects.”

Adding a different angle to the gun control debate, researchers have recently found that stricter gun laws could make a difference with teens.

According to a new study, stricter gun laws nationwide would not only keep high schools safer, but also keep teens safer on the whole.

Keeping teens safe

The researchers were most interested in seeing the effect stricter gun laws had on school safety. The team analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) from 1999 through 2015.

Nearly one million high school students answered questions based on weapons and school safety, including any injuries incurred from guns, if they carried weapons, if they felt unsafe or threatened in school, and if they missed any days because they felt unsafe at school.

By the end of the study, the researchers found that, overall, school environments were safer and students reported feeling safer when gun laws were stricter.

While six percent of students reported missing school because they felt unsafe, stricter gun laws dropped that number by over one percent. Similarly, the likelihood of teens carrying weapons at school -- or elsewhere -- decreased by nearly two percent, while the likelihood of being threatened or injured with a weapon at school decreased by nearly one percent.

The researchers note that nearly 20 states have weakened their gun laws over the last 20 years. The team encourages lawmakers to keep students’ safety at the forefront of their minds when revising legislation in the future.

“With the prevalence of weapon threats and fights at school decreasing only slightly, and the percentage of students who miss school on the rise, school safety represents a policy priority across the fields of health and education,” the researchers wrote.

Safety is the top priority

While this study focused on school safety, the lives of all consumers is the primary concern.

A recent study found that youth suicides are on the rise in states where gun ownership is high. Researchers found that three people between the ages of 10 and 19 use a gun to commit suicide every day. In states where owning a gun is more common, those numbers are even higher.

“The availability of firearms is contributing to an increase in the actual number of suicides, not just leading youth to substitute other means of suicide for guns,” said lead researcher Anita Knopov.

After several tragedies last year, businesses were doing their part to help keep people safe from gun-related tragedies. At the time, both Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart both released stricter gun laws, putting new limits on semi-automatic weapons.

Rising consumer demand and spring refinery maintenance continue to push gasoline prices higher.

The AAA Fuel Gauge Survey shows the national average price of regular gasoline is $2.61 a gallon, up another eight cents since last Friday. It’s running about the same as a year ago.

The average price of premium is $3.14 a gallon, seven cents higher than a week ago. The average price of diesel fuel is $3.01 a gallon, about the same as last week.

With the arrival of spring, consumers are driving more. The latest report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows motorists are buying about 9.4 million barrels of fuel a day, up 85,000 barrels a day from last year’s rate.

That increase in demand is drawing down gasoline stocks, which dipped by 4.6 million barrels last week, according to EIA.

“Since early February, gasoline demand has been steadily increasing while stocks have been gradually decreasing, causing more expensive pump prices across the country,” said Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokesperson. “The good news is that most motorists are not paying more than they were a year ago to fill up.”

Several states saw significant price increases in the last week. Drivers in Michigan saw the average price for regular surge 11 cents a gallon. The average price in Missouri rose a dime a gallon. The average price jumped nine cents in Colorado.

There’s probably not much relief in sight since most refineries are beginning annual maintenance, which typically reduces output and in some cases causes a supply crunch.

The states with the most expensive regular gas

These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey:

• California ($3.39)

• Hawaii ($3.37)

• Washington ($3.00)

• Oregon ($2.89)

• Nevada ($2.87)

• Alaska ($2.83)

• Pennsylvania ($2.77)

• Michigan ($2.74)

• Illinois ($2.72)

• New York ($2.68)

The states with the cheapest regular gas

The survey found these states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas:

• Utah ($2.32)

• Arkansas ($2.33)

• Mississippi ($2.33)

• Alabama ($2.33)

• Louisiana ($2.35)

• South Carolina ($2.36)

• Wyoming ($2.37)

• Texas ($2.38)

• Tennessee ($2.38)

• Missouri ($2.39)

Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging is recalling 40 repackaged lots of Losartan tablets, a prescription medication used to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

The product contains trace amounts of N-Nitroso N-Methyl 4-amino butyric acid (NMBA), a potential human carcinogen.

Legacy has not received any reports of adverse events to date.

The following product, packaged in 30-count bottles, is being recalled:

The recalled product, which can be identified by checking the product name and repackaged lot number on the bottle, was distributed by pharmacies nationwide.

What to do

Patients who have the recalled product should return it to the dispensing pharmacy.

Consumers with questions regarding this recall should contact their dispensing pharmacy during normal business hours or their physician or healthcare provider if they have had any problems related to taking or using the product.

Volkswagen Group of America is recalling four model year 2019 Jettas.

An incorrect driver front airbag may have been installed during a service/repair visit.

In the event of a crash necessitating air bag deployment, the wrong air bag may not work correctly, increasing the risk of injury.

What to do

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver front airbag with the correct part free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin April 19, 2019.

Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69Y7.

Various media reports say the FBI has entered the investigation of how the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Two of the new jets crashed within the last five months killing almost 400 people.

The Transportation Department reportedly opened an investigation into the aircraft’s approval process following last October’s crash of a Lion Air jet. Multiple sources report the U.S. Justice Department has now entered the picture and has issued several subpoenas.

CNN now reports that federal investigators are focusing on how Boeing marketed the new aircraft and what kind of training and information it provided to pilots. At the heart of the investigation, the government is said to be looking at the process Boeing used to certify the aircraft as safe and how the FAA handled that information.

The Justice Department does not comment on open investigations, and a spokesman for Boeing said it does not comment on potential legal matters.

The crashes

In October, a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the Java Sea after the flight crew reportedly struggled in vain to keep the plane from going into a steep drive. In early March, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff and the initial investigation pointed to “similarities” to the Lion Air crash.

In the Lion Air crash, the ongoing investigation has focused on a sensor located on the outside of the aircraft that monitors the plane’s angle of attack. If it determines the angle is too steep and could cause the craft to stall, it triggers an automated function that brings down the nose of the plane.

Investigators have speculated that If the sensor transmitted faulty data during the plane’s takeoff, the automatic software called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) could force the nose of the plane down at a critical time when it should be climbing.

Nearly crashed the day before

It’s now been reported that the Lion Air jet that crashed in October very nearly crashed the day before. Bloomberg News quotes Indonesian sources as saying an off-duty pilot riding in the jump seat of the Lion Air Max 8 the day before told the flight crew how to disable the MCAS when the aircraft went into a steep dive.

The next day, the same aircraft with a different crew reportedly experienced the same problem. But without the off-duty pilot to offer advice, the plane crashed, killing 189 people.

Retired USAir pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger,” who landed his crippled plane on the Hudson River after it was struck by geese, has weighed in on the issue, blasting both Boeing and the FAA in an op-ed.

“Our credibility as leaders in aviation is being damaged,” Sullenberger wrote. “Boeing and the FAA have been found wanting in this ugly saga that began years ago but has come home to roost with two terrible fatal crashes, with no survivors, in less than five months, on a new airplane type, the Boeing 737 Max 8, something that is unprecedented in modern aviation history.”

Sullenberger said the FAA has not been given a budget that allows it appropriate oversight of what he called a rapidly growing global aviation industry.

For consumers looking to shed a few pounds, there is no shortage of tips and tricks to help the process along. However, for those going to their doctors for some tips, specific advice is the best advice.

Researchers from Duke University recently conducted a study and found that when doctors offer their patients weight loss advice, offering specific bits of wisdom -- as opposed to general, generic tips -- is more effective in patients’ actual weight loss.

“Just telling somebody to lose weight or improve their diet or physical activity didn’t work,” said researcher Gary Bennett. “The doctor should instead encourage patient participation in a specific program.”

Getting to the heart of it

To see how doctors’ roles affected their patients’ weight loss journeys, the researchers conducted a year-long study with over 130 overweight participants.

For one year, the participants enrolled in a weight-loss program that was suited to their needs. They frequently checked in with weight-loss coaches, received educational materials on how to better their chances for success, received updates on their progress, and set weight loss goals.

The second component of the study involved communicating with doctors. Participants were required to check-in regularly with their physicians, and this is where the researchers spotted the biggest difference.

While some of the doctors offered their patients specific actions they could take to bolster their weight loss, others offered typical diet clichés, like “exercise more” or “lose weight.”

The researchers found that the participants with the more hands-on physicians were losing more weight -- nearly seven more pounds on average -- than the doctors offering superficial advice.

Moving forward, the researchers hope that consumers can have their doctors be active participants in their weight loss journey, as it might make a difference on the scale.

“Patients who enroll in a weight-loss program should consider asking their healthcare providers to check in on their progress,” said researcher Megan McVay. “This can help keep them accountable. It is also important to have a provider that they feel cares about them and has sympathy towards how hard it is to lose weight.”

Reaching weight loss goals

Losing weight can be a very difficult process for many consumers, and some recent studies have shed light on some things to consider when trying to achieve that goal.

For starters, it’s not all about counting calories. Researchers actually say eating at the right times of the day -- and avoiding eating at the wrong times -- is important when considering weight loss. Consumers are also more likely to be successful in their weight loss endeavors if they track the food that they eat.

“Free and low-cost weight loss apps have changed the ways that Americans manage their weight,” said researcher Gary Bennett. “However, we knew little about whether these tools worked very well on their own. We’ve shown that commercial smartphone apps can be a helpful way to get started with weight loss.”

Keeping lights off when they’re not being used is a surefire way for consumers to lower their electric bills; however, it could also help increase their lifespans.

According to researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, turning off lights can be beneficial to consumers’ health by lowering levels of air pollution.

“By saving electricity, we can also save lives,” said researcher David Abel. “There is a range of health benefits. It’s a bonus. We find there are extra health reasons to turn off a light.”

Saving more than just energy

During the summer months when energy use is at its peak, the researchers calculated air quality, human mortality, and power plant emissions to see how energy use and energy efficiency affect consumers’ health.

The key here is for consumers to be smart about their power use by being energy efficient, as doing so can come with some life-saving rewards.

The researchers found that increasing energy efficiency by 12 percent during the summertime would have huge effects on consumer health, the environment, and electricity costs. Promoting energy efficiency creates cleaner air for consumers, which the researchers say would save roughly $4 billion and nearly 500 lives per year.

“We’re trying to clarify how changes in energy systems have benefits for public health,” said researcher Tracey Holloway. “For the most part, the energy community is not focused on the human health effects of air pollution.”

The health effects associated with air pollution are lengthy, as exposure to certain chemicals has negatively affected children and sent consumers to the emergency room with more frequency. Keeping energy efficiency at the forefront would help to alleviate some of these concerns and help save lives.

With tangible facts and figures in place, the researchers are now hoping that the findings from this study inspire lawmakers to put legislation in place that would benefit consumer health long-term, while also being kind to the environment.

“This seems like a missed opportunity,” Holloway said. “Energy efficiency is free, yet it is not being included in the basket of solutions.”

Potential health risks

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported last year that air pollution kills seven million people per year, and a recent report found that air pollution only got worse in 2018.

It seems there’s no escape from air pollution, as doing chores around the house can contribute to indoor air pollution. One study found that pregnant women exposed to certain air pollutants are at a considerable risk of having a premature birth or bearing a child with low birth weight.

At an event on Monday, March 25, Apple is expected to announce the launch of its TV and movie streaming service. However, as the market for streaming services continues to expand, a new survey finds consumers are beginning to suffer from “subscription fatigue.”  

For its 13th annual Digital Media Trends survey, Deloitte surveyed more than 2,000 digital consumers across the U.S. and found that nearly half (47 percent) said the rapidly growing market for streaming services is causing them to experience subscription fatigue.

Deloitte’s survey showed strong growth in streaming video subscription services, with 69 percent of households now subscribing to one or more.

But with more than 300 streaming services now available to choose from -- and in some cases, multiple subscriptions and payments to keep track of -- many consumers are “beginning to feel weighed down” by the number of options and subscriptions to manage.

Crowded market

The new findings come ahead of the launch of several new streaming services, including one from Disney (called Disney+) expected to launch later this year, a service from HBO and Time Warner, and a service from NBCUniversial that will launch next year.

Many upcoming services will focus on offering their own original content, which may translate to the need for many consumers to subscribe to multiple services to ensure they can watch the content they like.

Deloitte’s survey found that over half of consumers (57) surveyed said they feel frustrated when content they enjoy disappears or is no longer on a particular streaming service.

Deloitte predicts that these changing consumer attitudes could lead streaming providers to develop “the next generation of the home entertainment platform” by creating a service that would combine video streaming, music, and gaming all under a single umbrella.