jikBMW Recalls 49K Motorcycles Because You Need Both Wheels To Stay Attachedde

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(Kenny Lannert)

Most motorcycles come with just two wheels and those components are crucial to the operation of the bike. That’s why BMW recalled 49,000 motorcycles in the U.S. and Canada.

The Associated Press reports that BMW initiated the recall covering several models produced between 2005 and 2011 after finding that the rear wheel can loosen.

BWM says the bolt that holds the rear wheel flange may be over-tightened, leading to a crack. If this occurs, the bolt can loosen resulting in an unsecured wheel.

The company first discovered the issue last summer after a motorcycle crash in Spain that left the rider and passenger bruised and scraped.

Recalled motorcycles include model year 2005 to 2010 R1200GS and R1200RT motorcycles, model year 2006 to 2010 R1200GS Adventure and model year 2007 to 2010 R1200R, 2007 R1200S and K1200R Sport.

Also included in the recall are model year 2005 to 2007 R1200ST, model year 2008 and 2009 HP2 Megamoto, model year 2006 HP2 Enduro, model year 2008 to 2010 HP2 Sport, and model year 2005 to 2008 K1200S, model year 2006 to 2008 K1200R and K1200GT, as well as model year 2009 to 2011 K1300S, model year 2010 to 2011 K1300R, and model year 2009 and 2010 K1300GT.

Owners of affected models will be notified in April and a dealer will replace the aluminum flange with a steel part.

A BMW spokesperson says, in the meantime, owners should check their rear wheel flanges for cracks. If none are found, the bike is safe to ride until recall repairs can be finished.

BMW Recalls Nearly 49K Motorcycles; Rear Wheel Can Loosen [The Associated Press]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

jikIllinois Town Posts Sign Imploring People To “Stop Pooping On Bike Path”de

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(WQAD)

There are some things one might assume wouldn’t need to be clearly stated, like defecating in a public place that’s well-traveled and isn’t a toilet, especially when there are toilets conveniently nearby. But one Illinois town found it had to spell things out a bit clearer.

After a rash of poop vandalism, officials in Hampton, IL decided to tackle the problem head on and have added a sign reading “Stop Pooping On Bike Bath,” reports WQAD, along with a helpful, crossed out smiling poo emoji, in case the message is unclear.

And lest you think this sign is for dogs — which is ridiculous, because dogs can’t read — it’s not, says the city’s Public Works supervisor. It’s been a problem for two years, and it is human feces being left on the path.

“Well, animals don’t carry toilet paper and then stuff it on the top,” he points out, saying whoever it is leaves a patch of paper on the poop every single time.

Sure, sometimes you’ve just gotta go, but there are other more civilized options available, he adds.

“It’s a mystery to many as to why someone would do it, especially when there are public restrooms nearby,” he says. “It’s gross and other people shouldn’t have to use our path like that,” said McKay.

Seriously — if you have enough forethought to bring toilet paper so as to wipe like a civilized human being, the least you could do is direct your backside to an actual toilet if it’s available.

Hampton posts signs asking people to “stop pooping on bike path” [WQAD.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikHMO Must Pay $28M For Delaying MRI That Could Have Saved Cancer Patient’s Legde

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(Atwater Village Newbie)

Back in 2009, a then 17-year-old woman in California visited a Kaiser Permanente office because she was experiencing strange back pain. In the months that followed, she and her mother say they repeatedly requested an MRI but Kaiser doctors would only tell her to lose weight or get acupuncture treatments. All the while, a cancerous tumor was growing that would eventually result in the surgical removal of her right leg, and parts of her pelvis and spine. Believing Kaiser could have caught the cancer earlier if it hadn’t delayed the MRI, a jury has awarded the patient $28 million in damages.

Kaiser operates as both care provider and insurer, with Kaiser doctors treating patients at Kaiser clinics and hospitals. Some have argued that while this may be good for Kaiser’s business, it’s not necessarily good for the patients to have their HMO actually employing their physicians.

The patient in this case alleged that Kaiser was looking out for its bottom line and not looking out for her when doctors refused her and her mother’s requests for an expensive MRI, but instead directed them to nutritionists and acupuncturists.

This didn’t make much sense to the 5’4″, 125 lb. teen, who had a hard time believing that her severe lower back pain could somehow be attributed to her physique.

“I just felt really hopeless and I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t do the test,” she tells the L.A. Times. “[The MRI] was an option, people get them every day, and for some reason I was left out.”

After three months, Kaiser relented and agreed to the MRI, which found the rapidly growing tumor and led to the surgery that took her right leg.

“If it were caught earlier, her limb could have been salvaged,” the patient’s attorney claims.

Kaiser maintains that its doctors did nothing wrong and that an earlier MRI would not have changed the outcome.

“[H]ighly respected medical experts testified that the medical care provided was appropriate,” a rep for company tells the Times. “We will be evaluating in the days ahead how best to respond to this verdict.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

jikScience Says: What A Food Sounds Like Makes A Difference In How We Experience Eating Itde

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(Carbon Arc)

Though we might not think about hearing our food when we eat it the way we do when it comes to taste, smell and even sight, if you bit into a potato chip and it didn’t make a sound in your head, it’d be weird, right? A new study that looks into how the sounds our food makes when we eat it factors into the overall experience.

Calling the “forgotten flavor sense,” in a new report published in the journal Flavour , researcher Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University (via Time.com), reviews a bunch of research related to how sound can change how we perceive flavor.

He comes to the conclusion that what a food sounds like is integral to the experience of eating it, as his findings show people use sound to assess how tasty a food is, even if they don’t know they’re doing it.

“What we hear can help us to identify the textural properties of what we, or for that matter anyone else, happens to be eating: How crispy, crunchy, or crackly a food is or even how carbonated the cava,” Spence writes, adding that “sound plays a crucial role in determining how much we like the experience.”

One study found that consumers used the word “crisp” more than any other descriptor when evaluating 79 foods, which makes sense. Biting into an apple that snaps with freshness is going to be a different experience than when your teeth meet unyielding mush.

Another study he reviewed took on the delicious concept of bacon as not only just the taste and aromatic pork odor, but the crunchiness that sounds when you bite down.

“We often think it’s the taste and smell of bacon that consumers find most attractive. But our research proves that texture and the crunching sound is just—if not more—important,” the lead researcher wrote in that study.

Spence’s own work showed that people like carbonated beverages more when the sound of bubbles popping is louder and more frequent.

We put importance on the way foods sound because it could be indicative of texture, and therefore quality, says Spence. Even a softer food like breads or bananas can whisper to you in their own special way, conveying something special about how it tastes.

“Just think, for instance, of the subtle auditory cues that your brain picks up as your dessert spoon cuts through a beautifully prepared mousse,” he writes.

The importance of sound while eating could lead to a surge in food sounds in trendy restaurants, Spence predicts, starting with “modernist chefs.”

Understanding how foods sound and trying to modify those foods to appeal to senior citizens could make eating more pleasurable for the elderly, he adds, as their other senses decrease. The idea being, if you can’t see your meal that well or even smell it, the way it sounds when you sink your teeth into it could go a long way toward increasing enjoyment.

Eating with our ears: assessing the importance of the sounds of consumption on our perception and enjoyment of multisensory flavour experiences [Flavour]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikCourt Throws Out NJ Turnpike’s Lawsuit Against Pizzeria With Lookalike Logode

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A federal judge in New Jersey dismissed the Turnpike Authority’s trademark lawsuit over a lookalike logo from a Florida pizza chain.

Last summer, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority sued the small Florida-based Jersey Boardwalk pizzeria chain over the restaurant’s logo, which looks remarkably similar to that of the Garden State Parkway. Earlier this week, a federal court in New Jersey dismissed the suit saying that the pizza chain didn’t have enough contact with the state to allow for the Turnpike Authority to file a lawsuit there.

The court’s dismissal of the case [PDF] centers on the issue of jurisdiction, i.e., whether the Turnpike Authority could file a trademark infringement lawsuit against a company that does no real business in the state.

Jersey Boardwalk doesn’t operate any stores anywhere in the vicinity of New Jersey and has only sold, via online orders, a handful of merchandise to NJ residents, though it’s likely that many of these customers only made these purchases after hearing of the lawsuit.

“Although Plaintiff may have felt the brunt of harm in New Jersey, it could not be said that New Jersey is the focal point of the offending activity,” explains the judge. “Florida is the focus of the activity. The spread of the allegedly infringing mark via merchandise sales on the internet is random and fortuitous.”

Additionally, the Turnpike Authority argued that when Boardwalk Pizza shipped a truck full of aid materials to areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy, it was a “publicity stunt resulting in purposeful availment,” but the judge said he was “not persuaded” by this contention.

“That contact with New Jersey is still too attenuated to put the Defendants on notice that they would be subject to a trademark infringement suit in New Jersey,” writes the judge.

Finally, the Turnpike folks also Plaintiff’s argument that use of “Jersey” in the restaurant’s name and marketing constitutes purposeful availment of New Jersey, but again the judge was not persuaded.

“While the Defendants are evoking sentimentality with New Jersey natives in Florida for the purposes of winning customers, this appeal to the idea of ‘Jersey’ does not demonstrate purposeful availment of the privileges of doing business in New Jersey,” he concludes. “On the contrary, the Defendants’ use of the idea of ‘Jersey’ or ‘Italian food from Jersey’ bears an element of nostalgia or even exoticism that is clearly directed to consumers outside of New Jersey.”

Given that the judge’s dismissal was based on a jurisdictional issue, it’s possible that the Turnpike Authority could file trademark suit in Florida.

“The ruling relates only to the question of what court should hear the complaint,” a rep for the Turnpike Authority tells the New Jersey Law Journal. “The court did not rule in any way on the merits of the case. The Turnpike Authority will continue to take action to protect its valuable marks… The authority will take some time to consider its options before deciding what step to take next in the civil matter.”

The pizzeria has twice been granted a trademark on its restaurant logos. The company’s attorney says that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was aware both times of the similarity to the Garden State Parkway logo but approved it anyway.

The USPTO is currently considering a petition — separate from the lawsuit — from the Turnpike Authority to cancel Jersey Boardwalk’s 2013 trademark. Even if the trademark is cancelled, that wouldn’t necessarily mean the pizzeria couldn’t use the logo; just that it would no longer hold the exclusive trademark to it.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

jikIn A Surprise To Absolutely No One, Willie Nelson Has Plans To Sell His Own Brand Of Marijuanade

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(Eric Arnold Photography)

It was only a matter of time: Now that recreational marijuana is legal in five U.S. States, Willie Nelson is fulfilling the silent promise his very existence made to his fans, and planning to launch his own line of weed. Please, sit down before you faint dead away from the shock.

Joining the family of his fellow cannabis connoisseur Bob Marley in the ranks of celebrity pot lines, Nelson will not only debut “Willie’s Reserve,” but also has plans for branded bongs and stores as well, reports the Daily Beast.

After the Redheaded Stranger (talk about a nickname perfect for a strain of pot, eh?) let it slip to the Daily Beast’s James Joiner, his public relations rep followed up and provided a bit more information about the upcoming weed brand.

“He wants it to be something that’s reflective of his passion. Ultimately, it’s his,” the PR rep explains in the interview. “But it was developed by his family, and their focus on environmental and social issues, and in particular this crazy war on drugs, and trying to be a bright light amongst this trail as we’re trying to extract ourselves from the goo of prohibition.”

He adds that there will be stores selling the stuff eventually, that will roll out in states where marijuana is legal. At those stores, Nelson’s business will sell not only Willie’s Reserve, but other strains as well. All suppliers will have to meet certain standards of growing and environmental impact, among other things, in somewhat of an “anti-Walmart” model, the PR guy explained.

“It will be like when you walk into a Whole Foods store. Whole Foods has their 365 brand, or you can buy Stony Brook, or you can buy Horizon,” the PR rep says. It’ll all fall under that umbrella of “here’s our core beliefs, and here’s our mission statement,” and they will be a part of that, to be a part of us.

Willie Nelson Is Launching His Own Brand of Weed [The Daily Beast]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikPayPal Must Pay $7.7M For Processing Transactions In Violation Of U.S. Sanctionsde

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(Liz Wise)

Each year, PayPal processes billions of dollars in transactions. Apparently some of those payments didn’t exactly sit well with the U.S. government and now the company must pay $7.7 million for violating certain sanctions.

In a settlement agreement [PDF] with the U.S. Treasury Dept., PayPal closes the book on allegations related to 486 separate transactions, totaling around $44,000. These transactions allegedly involved countries or groups covered by various sanction programs run by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

For example, the government alleges that PayPal processed 136 transactions totaling more than $7,000 to or from a PayPal account for an individual designated by the U.S. State Department as a “Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferator.” PayPal says that though this account was initially overlooked by its interdiction filters, the individual was eventually flagged. However, it wasn’t until he was flagged for the seventh time that his account was eventually blocked and reported to the Treasury’s OFAC.

Other violations included 98 transactions (totaling $19,344.89) in violation of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations; 125 transactions ($8,257.66) in violation of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations; 33 transactions ( $3,314.43) in violation of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations; and 94 transactions ($5,925.27) in violation of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations.

PayPal is not admitting any wrongdoing, and in a statement to CNET, says that “we’ve taken additional steps to support compliance with OFAC regulations with the introduction of real-time scanning of payments and improved processes.”

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist