When home security salesman comes knocking, beware

Door-to-door sellers of home alarm systems are required by the state to have passed a criminal background check and have been licensed by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. (Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press / December 2, 2012)

By Scott J. Wilson, Los Angeles Times

December 2, 2012

If someone comes to your door selling home security systems, be wary: They could be breaking the law and they could be trying to scam you, according to the state Department of Consumer Affairs. Key things to know:

• Anyone selling home alarm systems door-to-door in California is required to have passed a criminal background check and have been licensed by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. But in reality, warned the consumer agency, many sellers have done neither. Before listening to the pitch, ask to see the salesperson's state registration card.

• Beware of pressure to sign a contract immediately. Homeowners are sometimes pushed to sign overpriced alarm contracts that last for as long as five years, automatically roll over to a new term and give limited opportunity to cancel, the department said. Some contracts stipulate an early termination fee of several thousand dollars.

• In one scam, a salesperson finds a home with an alarm company sign or sticker and claims to be there to replace or upgrade the system. Or the salesperson may tell you that your company has gone out of business and he or she represents the new company. In both cases, state officials said, you will be told you must sign a new contract.

• Note that legitimate alarm companies also sometimes go door to door. "The challenge for the homeowner who answers the front door is to be certain the salesperson represents a reputable company and is not a scam artist," the department said. Call (800) 952-5210 to check whether a business or person is licensed and see whether any complaints have been filed.

• State law gives you a three-day window after signing to cancel a home security contract and get your money back. Deliver your cancellation letter in person or send it by certified mail. To lodge a complaint against an alarm company, visit http://www.bsis.ca.gov and click on "File a Complaint."

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Kansas City Chiefs player involved in shootings, police say

A 25-year-old Kansas City Chiefs player fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager, police said.

Police spokesman Darin Snapp said the player killed his girlfriend and then went to the team practice facility, where he shot himself. He did not identify either the player or his victim.

Before turning the gun on himself, the player thanked Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel for all they had done for him, Snapp said.

[Updated at 9:30 a.m: The Kansas City Star has reported that police confirmed that linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before fatally shooting himself.]

Authorities received a call Saturday morning from a woman who said her daughter had been shot multiple times at a residence about five miles away from the Arrowhead complex.

"When we arrived, a lady informed us that her daughter had been shot multiple times by her boyfriend, by the daughter's boyfriend," Snapp said. "She identified him as a Chiefs player."

Snapp said a call was then received from the Chiefs' facility.

"The description matched the suspect description from that other address. We kind of knew what we were dealing with," he said. The player was "holding a gun to his head" as he stood in front of the front doors of the practice facility.

"And there were Pioli and Crennel and another coach or employee was standing outside and appeared to be talking to him. It appeared they were talking to the suspect," Snapp said. "The suspect began to walk in the opposite direction of the coaches and the officers and that's when they heard the gunshot. It appears he took his own life."

The coaches told police they never felt in any danger, Snapp said.

"They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they'd done for him," he said. "They were just talking to him and he was thanking them and everything. That's when he walked away and shot himself."

Snapp described the girlfriend as in her early 20s and that she and the player had a child together. He said the woman's mother told police they had recently been arguing.

Arrowhead Stadium has been lockdown since about 8 a.m.

"We can confirm that there was an incident at Arrowhead earlier this morning," the Chiefs said in a statement. "We are cooperating with authorities in their investigation."

Kansas City is scheduled to host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The league has informed the Panthers to travel as scheduled because the game is going on as scheduled.

The season has been a massive disappointment for the Chiefs, who were expected to contend for the AFC West title.

They're just 1-10 and mired in an eight-game losing streak that has been marked by devastating injuries and fan upheaval, with constant calls the past few weeks for Pioli and Crennel to be fired. Things have been so bad this season that Crennel fired himself as defensive coordinator.

The Chiefs have been ravaged by injuries, led the league in turnovers, can't settle on a quarterback and are dealing with a full-fledged fan rebellion. The Twitter account for a fan group known as "Save Our Chiefs" recently surpassed 80,000 followers, about 17,000 more than the announced crowd at a recent game.

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The Kids Are All Right: How Social Media Created a Generation of Activists

This week marked the nation’s inaugural  “Giving Tuesday,” a UN sponsored initiative, which utilized social media to encourage businesses, schools, and community members to give back. The effort resulted in $ 10 million worth of donations made in a single day, a 53 percent increase over the same day last year.

Conceived as a means to promote activism and charity, the campaign’s use of social media to spread its message is most likely a large part of the initiative’s success. 

Certainly people from every age group use Twitter and Facebook, but social media activism is especially resonant with young adults. According to TBWA, people between the ages of 18-29 strongly identify as activists and count social media as their first point of engagement when they learn about a new cause.

MORE: ‘Tis Always the Season to Give: Creating a Corporate Culture That Gives Back

In fact, about half believe that activism is important to their personal identity and about a third look to it as a means of socializing and relating to one another.

But more than identifying with activism, this younger generation’s aptitude for social media can effect real change. Look at the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Earlier this year, when the organization announced it would pull its funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood, cutting off medical access for millions of women, Twitter and Facebook lit up with vitriolic statements, claiming the organization had become a puppet of the religious right. The ensuing bad press proved to be too much and within days, the organization reversed its decision and issued a public apology.

Similarly, when Florida law enforcement officials refused to arrest George Zimmerman after he fatally shot Trayvon Martin, the case lay dormant for almost a month. But an online petition started by Martin’s parents went viral and galvanized a nation demanding justice for the boy’s death. Zimmerman was arrested and charged as a result.

For all we hear about “kids these days” and their irresponsible use of social media−posting questionable pictures of themselves doing kegstands or letting Twitter corrode their ability to hold a thought for more than a nanosecond−it turns out that most are using it to express a genuine passion for changing the world around them. And they’re succeeding.

And these trends extend well beyond the U.S. That same age group in other countries shows similar interests in contributing to larger causes. China’s young adults for instance, lead the world in online political discussions and offline they donate the most money to charities. India’s younger generation ranks the first in the world when it comes to staying informed, and they’re the most optimistic about the impact their activism has on the world around them.

It seems that our youngest generation of adults are the ones leading the charge when it comes to effectively making a difference.

Do you consider yourself an activist? Let us know in the Comments what social causes inspire you to get involved.

Related Stories on TakePart:

• Secret Santas: Profiles in Anonymous Holiday Generosity

• Rwanda Genocide Survivor Wins Grant for Giving Back

• 40 U.S. Billionaires Pledge Half of Fortunes to Charity

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A Bay Area native, Andri Antoniades previously worked as a fashion industry journalist and medical writer.  In addition to reporting the weekend news on TakePart, she volunteers as a webeditor for locally-based nonprofits and works as a freelance feature writer for TimeOutLA.com. Email Andri | @andritweets | TakePart.com

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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JLo tones down concert in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Jennifer Lopez wowed thousands of fans in Indonesia, but they didn't see as much of her as concertgoers in other countries — the American pop star toned down both her sexy outfits and her dance moves during her show in the world's most populous Muslim country, promoters said Saturday.

Lopez's "Dance Again World Tour" was performed in the country's capital, Jakarta, on Friday in line with promises Lopez made to make her show more appropriate for the audience, said Chairi Ibrahim from Dyandra Entertainment, the concert promoter.

"JLo was very cooperative ... she respected our culture," Ibrahim said, adding that Lopez's managers also asked whether she could perform her usual sexy dance moves, but were told that "making love" moves were not appropriate for Indonesia.

"Yes, she dressed modestly ... she's still sexy, attractive and tantalizing, though," said Ira Wibowo, an Indonesian actress who was among more than 7,000 fans at the concert.

Another fan, Doddy Adityawarman, was a bit disappointed with the changes.

"She should appear just the way she is," he said, "Many local artists dress even much sexy, much worse."

Lopez changed several times during her 90-minute concert along with several dancers, who also dressed modestly without revealing their chests or cleavage.

Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular country of 240 million people, are moderate. But a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

They have pushed through controversial laws — including an anti-pornography bill — and have been known to attack anything perceived as blasphemous, from transvestites and bars to "deviant" religious sects.

Lady Gaga was forced to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia in May following threats by Islamic hard-liners, who called her a "devil worshipper."

Lopez will also perform in Muslim-majority Malaysia on Sunday.

"Thank you Jakarta for an amazing night," the 43-year-old diva tweeted to her 13 million followers Saturday.

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Seeking a fix for California's gasoline market problems

California will always be at risk of gasoline price spikes caused by disruptions at refineries because it is a “fuel island,” stranded by time and distance from quick delivery of gasoline from outside the state. Without interstate pipelines, California relies primarily on maritime tankers for oil and gasoline imports, which cannot move fast enough to make up for a sudden drop in supply.

Spikes in California gasoline prices experienced in 2012 were in large part due to significant, unplanned outages at three major oil refineries. When the most recent outage occurred, in Torrance on October 1, the wholesale price for gasoline followed a pattern typical of such price spikes – rising, peaking and starting to decline within a week, fewer days than it would take a gasoline shipment to arrive at a California port.

Although the state’s clean-air requirements add to the price of gasoline, the health benefits are substantial, and studies show their value exceeds the additional cost at the pump. Furthermore, the requirements are not the primary driver of price spikes, nor do they prohibit importing gasoline from elsewhere.

In fact, refiners outside California can, and sometimes do, make gasoline that meets the state’s specifications. That said, in the wake of the recent price spike, the state eased summer-blend fuel requirements, which benefited motorists by allowing in-state refiners to immediately boost gasoline production by 3% to 5%.

But there is a larger lesson here: It’s time to think beyond the gas tank.

Instead of running on fossil fuels and driving toward empty, California needs to diversify its array of transportation fuels to include more electricity, biofuels, natural gas, propane and hydrogen.

The California Energy Commission is working to do just that as it helps the state meet ambitious climate change goals. The commission supports the development and use of new vehicle technology and alternative and renewable fuels through competitive awards of AB 118 funds — made available through legislation adopted in 2007 and funded by a small surcharge on vehicle and boat registrations and smog-check and license plate fees.

The commission has awarded more than $250 million to more than 120 clean transportation projects across the state. These awards have leveraged more than $500 million in private and public investment.

These investments support a wide range of projects, including the installation of about 6,000 electric vehicle charging stations and the rollout of hundreds of alternative fuel vehicles on the road. These investments also support the innovative development of biofuels made from algae and restaurant and agricultural waste.

The efforts are already paying off: They are reducing gasoline dependency, creating more than 5,000 long-term jobs, bolstering energy security and economic competitiveness, and reducing the risk of lung cancer and asthma for all Californians by cleaning up the air.

In the longer term, these crucial investments will lead to more options for consumers and smooth out the road to a clean transportation future for California.

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D.A. to drop murder charge against tennis umpire

The Los Angeles County district attorney will drop the murder charge filed against former U.S. Open tennis umpire Lois Goodman, who prosecutors had alleged killed her 80-year-old husband, several law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said.

Sources, who did not want to be named because the investigation is ongoing, emphasized that the investigation will continue. But, they said, experts retained by authorities said the evidence could show that Alan Goodman's death was an accident.

It is unclear whether prosecutors will refile charges after additional investigation, or whether the doubts raised by their experts will scuttle the case entirely. Goodman, 70, has pleaded not guilty to attacking her husband, who died April 17 at their Woodland Hills home.

She spent nearly two weeks in jail before being released on $500,000 bail. Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, would neither confirm nor deny that a decision had been made to drop the charge. Goodman's attorneys declined comment Thursday afternoon.

A court hearing on Goodman's case is scheduled for Friday morning.

The high-ranking tennis umpire was arrested in August while she was in New York City preparing to officiate at the U.S. Open. Lois Goodman told police she came home and found her husband bloodied and dead in bed.

She said she believed he crawled there after falling down the stairs and onto the coffee cup he was carrying. Prosecutors have insisted that Goodman was a calculating killer who bludgeoned her ailing husband with the cup and then stabbed him with it when it shattered.

They allege that she left him to die and went off to a tennis match and to get a manicure. Her attorney, Robert Sheahen, has described the incident as a "horrible accident." He said she passed a lie-detector test and that an initial test did not find her DNA on the broken pieces of the cup.

The case has been complicated from the start. Police who were originally called to the couple's home accepted Goodman's theory that her husband had fallen down the stairs. Police determined that there was no crime and allowed Goodman to transfer his body to a mortuary without an autopsy.

It wasn't until three days later, on the eve of his cremation, that a coroner's investigator, sent to the mortuary to sign the death certificate, noted the "deep penetrating blunt force trauma" on Alan Goodman's head and ears. Those observations launched the homicide investigation.

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MacFarlane surprises UCLA class, announces contest

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oscar host Seth MacFarlane is inviting college students to join him on stage at the Academy Awards.

The creator of Fox's "Family Guy" made a surprise appearance at UCLA to announce a contest sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and MTV that will allow winning college students to appear on the Feb. 24 Oscar telecast.

The contest invites students to submit videos on the academy's Facebook page describing how they'll contribute to the future of film. At least six winners will serve as trophy carriers on the Oscar show, replacing the leggy models who usually perform the duties.

MacFarlane spent 40 minutes leading the undergraduate film and television class at UCLA's Westwood campus on Wednesday as part of MTV's "Stand In" series, which brings celebrities to colleges as guest lecturers.

"In re-imagining what we want the Oscar show to be, we wanted everyone appearing on that stage to feel a deep commitment to film and its legacy, and most importantly, its future," said Oscar telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron in a statement. "That was the impetus in creating this special honor for young film students who will inspire a new generation to create the films that will be honored in the future."

The contest is also aimed at drawing younger viewers favored by advertisers to the Oscars' aging TV audience. Like UCLA student Abby Smith, who immediately pulled out her smartphone to share the moment on Facebook when MacFarlane appeared before her class.

"Seth MacFarlane is speaking to my film lecture for the next hour," Smith posted. "I'm having a panic attack."

The 39-year-old entertainer urged the aspiring filmmakers and show-runners in the class to make a "commercially viable student film" before leaving school, adding that "Family Guy" was based on his own student film.

And MacFarlane said "Family Guy" could once again become a film. He said he's already come up with a concept for a feature-length movie and promised "it will happen at some point."

MacFarlane cheekily described the Academy Awards as "a crazy little variety show" and said "all I can do is do what I think is funny and most entertaining."

"The Oscars is a tricky venue," he said. "The (hosts) who have not done well, I would classify them as a noble failure, an honorable failure, because at least they were trying something new... If I can do it without torpedoing my career and getting drummed out of the business... All I can do is my very best."

He paused a beat, and added, "Lame (expletive) answer."

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MTV is owned by Viacom Inc.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

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Hockey Coaches Defy Doctors on Concussions, Study Finds

Despite several years of intensive research, coverage and discussion about the dangers of concussions, the idea of playing through head injuries is so deeply rooted in hockey culture that two university teams kept concussed players on the ice even though they were taking part in a major concussion study.

The study, which will be published Friday in a series of articles in the journal Neurosurgical Focus, was conducted during the 2011-12 hockey season by researchers from the University of Western Ontario, the University of Montreal, Harvard and other institutions.

“This culture is entrenched at all levels of hockey, from peewee to university,” said Dr. Paul S. Echlin, a concussion specialist and researcher in Burlington, Ontario, and the lead author of the study. “Concussion is a significant public health issue that requires a generational shift. As with smoking or seat belts, it doesn’t just happen overnight — it takes a massive effort and collective movement.”

The study is believed to be among the most comprehensive analyses of concussions in hockey, which has a rate of head trauma approaching that of football. Researchers followed two Canadian university teams — a men’s team and a women’s team — and scanned every player’s brain before and after the season. Players who sustained head injuries also received scans at three intervals after the injuries, with researchers using advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

The teams were not named in the study, in which an independent specialist physician was present at each game and was empowered to pull any player off the ice for examination if a potential concussion was observed.

The men’s team, with 25 players and an average age of 22, played a 28-game regular season and a 3-game postseason. The women’s team, with 20 players and an average age of 20, played 24 regular-season games and no playoff games. Over the course of the season, there were five observed or self-reported concussions on the men’s team and six on the women’s team.

Researchers noted several instances of coaches, trainers and players avoiding examinations, ignoring medical advice or otherwise obstructing the study, even though the players had signed consent forms to participate and university ethics officials had given institutional consent.

“Unless something is broken, I want them out playing,” one coach said, according to the study.

In one incident, a neurologist observing the men’s team pulled a defenseman during the first period of a game after the player took two hits and was skating slowly. During the intermission the player reported dizziness and was advised to sit out, but the coach suggested he play the second period and “skate it off.” The defenseman stumbled through the rest of the game.

“At the end of the third period, I spoke with the player and the trainer and said that he should not play until he was formally evaluated and underwent the formal return-to-play protocol,” the neurologist said, as reported in the study. “I was dismayed to see that he played the next evening.”

After the team returned from its trip, the neurologist questioned the trainer about overruling his advice and placing the defenseman at risk.

“The trainer responded that he and the player did not understand the decision and that most of the team did not trust the neurologist,” according to the study. “He requested that the physician no longer be used to cover any more games.”

In another episode, a physician observer assessed a minor concussion in a female player and recommended that she miss the next night’s game. Even though the coach’s own playing career had ended because of concussions, she overrode the medical advice and inserted the player the next evening.

According to the report, the coach refused to speak to another physician observer on the second evening. The trainer was reluctant to press the issue with the coach because, the trainer said, the coach did not want the study to interfere with the team.

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Stocks flat; consumer spending falls

Stocks are little changed in morning trading Friday as lawmakers seek to thrash out a budget agreement. The government also reported that consumer spending fell in October.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose six points to 13,028 as of 11:13 a.m. Eastern. The Standard and Poor's 500 was down 0.4 points to 1,415. The Nasdaq composite was down five points to 3,007.

Stocks are slightly higher for the week. The Dow is up 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 index 0.4 percent. The market has fluctuated between gains and losses in recent days as news and comments filtered out from the budget negotiations in Washington.

Investors have been closely following the talks between the White House and Congress over the “fiscal cliff,” which refers to sharp government spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to start Jan. 1 unless an agreement is reached to cut the budget deficit. Economists say that those measures, if implemented, could push the U.S. economy back into a recession.

“Right now the market is just going to be held hostage as to what happens in the next five hours, versus what's going to happen in the next five years,” said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management, in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Americans cut back on spending last month and saw no growth in their income, reflecting disruption from Superstorm Sandy that could hold back economic growth in the final months of the year.

The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending dropped 0.2 percent in October. That's down from an increase of 0.8 percent in September and the weakest showing since May.

Among stocks making big moves:

—Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, fell $6.90 to $67.58. The fast-food operator reported disappointing sales and earnings forecasts. An analyst recommended that investors sell the stock.

—Zynga, the maker of computer games including “Farmville” and “Cityville,” fell 17 cents to $2.45 after the company said late Thursday that it was loosening its relationship with Facebook.

—VerSign plunged $5.50 to $33.83 after the company announced the terms of its new contract to run the key directories that keep track of “.com” domain names. The company won't be allowed to raise prices on the registration of such names without government approval.

—Duke Energy rose $1.10 to $63.49 after the company said its CEO will step down as part of a settlement with the North Carolina utilities regulator that ends an investigation into the company's takeover of in-state rival Progress Energy.

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America waits for Powerball jackpot winners to reveal themselves

Powerball officials confirmed that there are two winning tickets in the second-biggest lottery in history, sold in Arizona and Missouri.

Someone missing at work on Thursday? For many in Arizona and Missouri, that was just one more reason to speculate on who won the record Powerball lottery whose golden tickets were sold in those states.

And while America was waiting to learn who will share in the estimated $587.5-million jackpot, lottery officials prepared to hold news conferences Thursday to highlight the establishments where the winning tickets were sold. Everybody loves a winner, but in the lottery world, the sellers of winning tickets get to share the lucky spotlight.

On Wednesday night, officials drew the winning numbers -- 5, 16, 22, 23, 29, and 6 as the powerball. Two winning tickets will split the jackpot, the largest in Powerball history and the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

QUIZ: Test your knowledge of Powerball

All that is known so far is that one of the winning tickets was sold in the Kansas City area and the other was in Arizona. The winners have 180 days to claim their prize.

Like many forms of gambling, the lottery runs on selling the dream of instant riches, mainly to people who most likely will never have a chance to earn any amount close to a major jackpot.

That the odds of winning are almost one in 176 million rarely serves as a damper on the frenzy, designed to up the drama and the eventual net proceeds that go to the states who are sponsors. (About $1 of each $2 ticket goes to fund the prizes, with the rest going to the states -- minus the administrative costs to run the lottery.)

The record Powerball lottery was no different. At its peak, tickets were selling at a rate of about 130,000 a minute -- the equivalent of a small city picking numerical combinations (or more likely allowing a machine to randomly choose them). That surge is partly responsible for driving up the jackpot to astronomical heights.

It was also fueled by the lack of a winner in earlier rounds. Wednesday’s jackpot had been increased by 16 consecutive failures to pick a winner, rolling over the pot.

One reason for a delay in winners coming forward may be their need to figure out a financial strategy. Winners can be paid over time, for the full $587.5 million, or all at once, for a cash value of $384.7 million.

There are also tax and investment issues that can require some expertise. For example, with the federal government weighing increased taxation on the rich as one way to solve the issues connected to the so-called fiscal cliff, some people may want to pull the income into this year instead of next.

And of course, if the winning ticket was bought by a group such as an office pool, it may take some time to round up the winners and figure out the next step.

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