Consumerist
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tragic
Billy Mays Likely Died Of Heart Disease
A Florida medical examiner says that beloved pitchman Billy Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease and likely died of a heart attack. A day earlier, Mays bumped his head during a rough landing on a US Airways flight — but the autopsy showed no head trauma. More » -
madoff
Madoff Eligible To Scam Again In Only 150 Years
A federal judge has sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison, after which time we assume he'll drink the blood of the living, hang out a shingle, and start soliciting "investments." More » -
Happy Endings
Southwest Apologizes To The Frequent Flyer Who Was Suddenly Too Big To Fly
Southwest Airlines has apologized to Chip, the frequent business traveler who was denied boarding because he was too big to fly. If you recall, Chip, a self-described "big guy," does not use a seat belt extender and says he has no trouble fitting into a standard airline seat. More » -
Lawsuits
Walmart Greeter Who Was Attacked During Receipt Check Gets $20,000 Settlement
Remember the Walmart greeter who was attacked by a police officer when he tried to check the cop's receipt? His lawsuit has been settled for $20,000. More » -
Travel
Surprise! Fees And Taxes Are More Than The Cost Of The Hotel Room!
Over at Elliott.org a reader has sent in a screenshot from a recent attempt to book a discounted hotel room in Venice. The price was supposed to be $375 a night marked down from $537. It seemed like a good deal until he saw the taxes and fees... More » -
Dtv
My In-Laws Won't Stop Using A Converter Box On Their New LCD TV
Even after the DTV switch, converter-box drama persists. Reader Bob is concerned that his in-laws were oversold on a converter box for their brand new TV. More » -
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A new study says 1 in 25 deaths is somehow tied to alcohol consumption. The impact was compared to that of smoking, the article quotes experts who want to take drastic action such as "increasing the price of alcohol, reducing its availability and banning advertising." That seemed a little draconian to us, until we realized that it would free us from the tyranny of that Bud Lite "drinkability" campaign. [BBC]
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FAFSA
FAFSA To Get Dramatically Shorter, Less Painful
The Department of Education has announced that the FAFSA, considered (by me) to suck worse than any form ever, is getting shorter and less painful. Most importantly for those of you who have procrastination-prone parents that just don't enjoy filling out forms (me, again), the FAFSA will allow students applying for financial aid in the spring semester of 2010 to "seamlessly retrieve their relevant tax information from the IRS for easy completion." More » -
Executive Compensation
Citibank To Raise Salaries By 50% In Reaction To Bonus Limits
The AP is reporting that Citibank will be raising salaries for certain employees by as much as 50% in order to offset the new bonus restrictions. The company faces the restrictions because it took bailout money. More » -
Poll
Should GM Cut Back On Advertising During Bankruptcy? They Don't Think So
Up until its recent plunge into bankruptcy, GM had been our nation's second-largest advertiser — behind only Procter & Gamble. The company spent $2 billion dollars annually for the past few years — and though they've recently cut back and fallen into third place behind Verizon, the company apparently plans to continue to spend their pre-bankruptcy budget of $40-50 million a month on ads. More » -
Failure
Company Offering Paid Security Lines For Special People Fails
A company offering special, more efficient security lines for frequent travelers has failed and ceased operation on Monday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. More » -
recession watch
Farmers Slaughtering Dairy Cows Rather Than Lose Money Producing Milk
It's so expensive to produce milk right now — due to low demand and high feed costs — that farmers are being paid to slaughter dairy cows in order to "shift the pain to consumers," says Bloomberg. More » -
Success
Asking Comcast To Lower Your Bill Results In Comcast Lowering Your Bill
If you're paying too much for cable these days, it really doesn't hurt to call and ask for a discount. You never know, your cable company might surprise you. That's what happened to reader Nitin. More » -
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Suddenly Decides Frequent Flyer Is Too Big To Fly
This is reader Chip. He's 6'1" and says he flies twice a week for business, without incident, on Southwest Airlines. He is a self-described "big guy" but says he doesn't have any problem sitting in an airplane seat — and doesn't need a seat belt extender to do so. So, why did he suddenly get stopped at the gate and told he needed to buy a second ticket? More » -
Walgreens says declining home values and rising unemployment are causing consumers to cut back on everything but essentials like soap and milk. Consequently, the drugstore chain is having to spend money revamping its merchandise selection to match the trend. It's back to basics if you want to make money. [Bloomberg]
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your health
Gross: Your Pet Could Give You A MRSA Infection
We know you love little Fluffy, but according to an article from ABCNews — he could give you methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In case you are not aware — that's bad news. More »
New York, 4:48 AM
Mon Jul 6
6 posts in the last 24 hours
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