ORNL Federal Credit Union is hosting a secure Document Shred Day. This event is free and is open to the public.

The event is Saturday, April 19th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Secure documents such as bank statements and also film and data CDs will be accepted. All shredding will be done 100% on site by a commercial shredding service. Read more for locations...

Most folks wouldn't consider buying a home without first getting an inspection. Most purchase contracts have a "subject to inspection" clause.

With mortgages being so complicated these days, maybe they should have a "subject to inspection" clause, too. And maybe a company with a team of real estate lawyers, bankers, and personal finance advisers that reviews mortgages for a flat fee of $200 or so could save home buyers thousands (or their homes).

I wonder how many people even read their mortgage contracts beyond the principle, interest, and escrow payment amounts? One time we actually had a title company employee yell at us in frustration because we wanted to waste their valuable time by actually reading all twenty pages of the thing before we signed it. And even if you read the whole thing, can you understand it?

UPDATE: Oh, wait. Somebody already thought of this. (I ran across a couple of others, though, that work for mortgage companies on commission. They probably aren't the most objective source of advice.)

If so, your financial info may have been compromised.

Will we ever know the absolute truth?

According to an article in The Independent (UK):

Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by an award-winning cancer expert has concluded. He says people should avoid using them wherever possible and that governments and the mobile phone industry must take "immediate steps" to reduce exposure to their radiation.

...

It draws on growing evidence – exclusively reported in the IoS in October – that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer. Cancers take at least a decade to develop, invalidating official safety assurances based on earlier studies which included few, if any, people who had used the phones for that long.

What is the truth anyway? We have selective truth. We have scientific truth. Some have religious truth.

We have never used our cellphones very much. We probably average 75 minutes or less a month for the two of us. I wonder what France, Germany, and the European Environment Agency consider reduced use.

WATE has been following the story of a woman whose dog died under mysterious circumstances at a pet groomer. There was speculation that the death was due to overheating in a dryer cage.

As we mentioned here previously, there is proposed legislation in Massachusetts and New York to regulate pet groomers and to ban dryer cages.

WATE reported last week that State Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) is proposing the same for Tennessee:

"We've got to regulate the grooming industry and if we don't, we end with people losing their animals and no animal deserves to die like that," Burchett says.

The senator wants cage dryers banned and he also wants licensing for groomers.

The report quotes a state groomer's association spokesperson as saying they oppose such regulation.

Last night there was a meeting of area groomers to discuss the issues. The woman whose pet died at a local groomer confronted the owner at the meeting. The owner publicly admitted what happened for the first time:

"The timer on the dryer cage got stuck and it was extremely hot and I got rid of the dryer and fired the employee," says Happy Tails owner Erik Webb.

According to the report, he apologized to "all the pet owners who lost animals at his facility."

As I said previously, it sounds to me like dryer cages should be outlawed. There should be other regulation, too, about the use of sedatives and making sure groomers are at least minimally qualified and are familiar with various breed standards for grooming.

WATE has a followup on the sad death of a pet while at a local groomer. Apparently it's not the first time this has happened at this particular groomer. The report suggests there may have been a problem with a "drying cage."

I had never heard of drying cages, so I googled it up and found this:

WATE: Strawberry Plains woman finds insurance documents all over her front yard

"You have driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, addresses, and VIN numbers," says Komoroski.

She says her husband had seen a garbage bag full of the paper fall off the back of a pick-up truck earlier, and the person driving kept going.

This might actually be a worse threat than computer data theft. No access to secure databases or technical skills required, just read it off a piece of paper. At least it's limited in terms of the number of possible victims as opposed to millions that might be exposed by way of a database hack.

My guess is that somebody was on their way to a secure disposal facility of some kind. There are lots of companies offering secure document disposal services for businesses. Hopefully companies with this kind of info in their trash are using them. Some have mobile units that will come on site.

Individuals should also shred documents such and bank statements and credit card statements and any other documents with personal info. Small shredders are inexpensive and available at any office supply store. As an alternative, the Knoxville Recycling Coalition has free quarterly secure paper collections for home and small business.

The most valuable piece of paper I ever found walking down the street was an internal memo that would have been very interesting to a major company's largest customer. It was info the company would probably not want the customer to see. It might have been even more interesting to the company's competitors, like possibly $millions interesting. It laid around on my kitchen counter for a few days while I pondered whether to return it to the company with a suggestion they ought to be more careful. I decided it would probably just get somebody in trouble, so I threw it away. Hope it made it to the dump.

I guess we now have to ask, what else is in all these Chinese products Wal*Mart imports that aren't being inspected?

Good grief--more concern for Chinese-made products in this morning's N-S:

Read more after the jump...

The FDA is finally getting around to warning "consumers on Friday to avoid using toothpaste made in China because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze. Out of caution, the Food and Drug Administration said, people should throw away toothpaste with labeling that says it was made in China."

Thus, not really a recall. Throw it away!

Do we need to start worrying about all imports from China?

Financial Institutions (banks, credit unions) are supposed to be experts on their products, savings, deposits, loans, etc.

Not!

Received a notice the other day a CD was maturing and would automatically renew unless we called. The CD was a 4 month 4.44 APY, 4.38 APR. The maturity value was incorrect. Called the FI and asked them about it. They took a while to calculate the interest, couldn't do 4 months but based on a 3 month (90 day) CD, I was correct. The notice showed the wrong maturity value with the interest approximately 85% lower than it should have been. Asked for a corrected notice. They can't really do it. The computer generates these notices. It will probably post the correct interest, says the clerk. All should be okay.

Well, I'm definitely no accountant, but I do know how to manage finances, and have a handy little tool to calculate interest. I explained to the clerk, I'm not trying to be mean, but a FI should know how to handle this and make the correction. Transferred to the manager, who is busy. Left a message. Haven't heard back.

Why is it the ordinary consumer, me, has to be such an expert in finance, autos, healthcare, home repair, etc. these days?

Does anybody know what time it is? Does anybody care? I think I'll call the President.

A payday lender trade group launches a $10 million PR campaign to rehabilitate their image. In their TV commercials, they say “Please borrow only what you feel comfortable paying back when it’s due.”

Consumer advocates, however, note that they still charge up to 400% interest and aren't impressed with this newfound sense of responsibility...