The menu is meant to stop a slowdown in breakfast menu item sales. With fewer people going to work — they are understandably buying fewer breakfasts on the way to their non-existent jobs.

From the WSJ:

The fast-food chain's national advertising fund has "overwhelmingly approved" backing the dollar breakfast menu with a nationwide campaign during the first six months of 2010, according to the document. The matter will be put to a vote of regional advertising groups, but it comes with the blessing of the national council and a sense of urgency "to ensure that breakfast continues to be a strong contributor to our overall sales, guest count and profit growth," the document said.

Danya Proud, a McDonald's spokeswoman, said the chain wouldn't comment on information obtained from unauthorized sources. "Matters concerning the future of our business and internal discussions are confidential and proprietary to the McDonald's system," she said.

The items we know have been featured on breakfast dollar menus include wo hot cakes, a fruit 'n yogurt parfait, a sausage biscuit, a sausage McMuffin, two hash browns or medium coffee.

The document also approved the January nationwide roll out of the Big Mac burrito, also known as the "Mac Snack Wrap," for $1.49.

McDonald's Cooking Up Dollar Menu for Breakfast [WSJ]
(Photo:donbuciak)

Jeremy says:

My organization has a wonderful, articulate but disabled lady who has agreed to speak to a certain state's legislature about patient's rights, a very timely and powerful message in the times where scrutinizing healthcare is front and center in our national debate.

I made the reservations for her to fly down and back on my American Express — something we do all the time — through American Airlines because we are a corporate rewards BusinessExtrAA member. All things being equal, we usually pick American because of the rewards my organization get through flying with them. I clicked through the reservation online, trying to be considerate of her every option — wheelchairs and aisle seats all around, because of her disability. Because of her being generous with her time, we wanted to take care of everything for her. I thought it odd that there wasn't a way to prepay for luggage, but made the reservation anyway and figured I had missed it and could add it later.

As an avid Consumerist reader and a chart nerd, I regularly click through to read what the baggage fees are on certain airlines and get incensed, feeling glad I mostly fly Southwest. I often saw discounts for other airlines for pre-paying for luggage on a reservation, I wondered why I hadn't been given the option to do so with my American Airlines reservation. I logged back into the reservation online and looked for the option to prepay for luggage. Where is it? I searched their website for clues, and, figuring that it was one of the options they don't allow you to change with your reservation online, called the reservations line.

The first woman, Lisa, couldn't answer my question and didn't know how to pre-pay for luggage, and having been a former call center representative myself, I very politely suggested that I hold for a few minutes while she ask the information from a supervisor. She came back a few minutes later and told me — it would be $20, and a $100 pre-payment fee. $120 total. Each way. I blanched, not expecting that answer at all. I very politely suggested that she may have gotten the information wrong and asked where I could find that information online to verify this, but she couldn't answer my question. I then asked to speak to her supervisor directly, because I needed this information documented for possible tax reasons or because of corporate reimbursement policy. I think she was glad to get rid of me.

Pat answered and as a savvy supervisor as a call center can, she listened to my story and answered my questions with politeness and clarity. She repeated the information she had given me about the pre-paid baggage fee - $120 - and I said I could wait on hold for a few minutes while she checked with the people who work at the website helpdesk to see where this fee was published online. A few more minutes on hold and she came back to me, telling me that there is no information published on the aa.com website that mentions this fee. There isn't anywhere this information is published.

I asked why, and by this point Pat and I had developed a polite rapport. She admitted that they must not publish it because of its exorbitance — although I suspect she regretted saying that, because you're trained as a call center supervisor to never directly express your contrary opinion to corporate policy. She didn't have the power to waive the fee, and there were no other options for me. To her credit, she actually said this out loud instead of transferring me to someone else. I decided not to fight it any more.

$120 pre-paid baggage fee! This is not an option for my organization going forward when we have to curry favor for someone to speak for us. I think that my organization's policy on "all things being equal" for choosing American Airlines just got a little more unequal, BusinessExtrAA member or not. As for our disabled passenger - she will get to the event, thanks to pre-paid AmEx cards (wait, can you even use those to pay for luggage??) — but thank god there's no "wheelchair fee" - YET!

Has this happened to anyone else?

(Photo:Oliver 62)

Here are the menu boards:

Britney's spokesperson defended her lip syncing by saying that it wasn't exactly a secret or anything.

"It's been all over the internet for nine months," Dainty said. 'The inference is that we tried to hide this. It's been the opposite.

"This show is about an incredible spectacle, which it is," he said.

Secret or no, Australians seem quite serious about their objections. From The Age:

Last week, NSW Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge proposed that disclaimers be printed on tickets and promotional material to inform consumers if a concert would be pre-recorded and mimed.

Victorian Consumer Affairs Minister Tony Robinson said if concert promoters misrepresented whether an artist was performing live or was miming, they could be in breach of the Fair Trading Act.

Is a disclaimer needed? Or should everyone just expect people like Ms. Spears to be faking it?

(Photo:ninja IX)

We have to say we're not surprised by the results. We trust that Campbell's understands chicken soup manufacturing.

Let Jesse Buy It: Noodles [KING 5] (Thanks,Cherise!)

From The Awl:

But the most egregious claim Wilson makes about Penneys with regard to fatness is "[JC Penney] has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen." The "I have ever seen" clause in that statement is the one thing that prevents me from declaring this outright slander. In my time at Penneys, I never saw a mannequin that looked appreciably different from any other mannequin that I have ever seen. They were all rather tall and skinny-you know, like mannequins are.

Yeah, we sort of thought so. The article also includes a fun round-up of instances in which Ms. Wilson uses the word "fat." Enjoy.

Real America with Abe Sauer: A Visit to New York City's JC Penney [The Awl]

PREVIOUSLY: J.C. Penney In Manhattan Harbinger Of Fashion Apocalypse, Fat Suburbanites
New York Times Wishes It Had Not Published "Snotty" JC Penney Review

The LA Times says:

The price cuts are welcome news for movie studios because it could spur demand in a year of flagging DVD sales. The wholesale price paid by Walmart and its competitors remains unchanged at about $18, meaning studios will make the same profit despite the discounting.

It's normal for retailers like Walmart to price DVDs below their wholesale cost at stores and online to draw customers who often spend more money on other items.

Although discounting is not unusual for Walmart and Target, the new $10 price means the retailers will incur a big loss on each sale.

It comes as the two companies and Amazon engage in a price war over books that has driven down the price of some hardcovers to $9.

Will these new unsustainably low prices get you to skip Redbox or Netflix and actually buy a DVD?

Walmart, Target slash online prices of popular DVDs [LA Times]

Apparently he also had insurance, and the hospital should have sent the bill to his insurer.

"I can't believe that in any country besides the U.S., any civilized country, that the parents of a murdered boy would receive this bill for $29,000 and such an insulting letter," Gerald Hawkins, the victim's father, told ABC 10 in Sacramento, CA.

The bill in question was for "five minutes in [the hospital's] emergency room," says ABC 10, who tried to assess why 5 minutes could cost $29,000.

Scott Seamons with the California Hospital Council said the critical response to Hawkins is what cost the most. He said UC Davis is a Level 1 Trauma Center, which means the best and most expensive doctors were waiting for Scott.

"Whether it was five minutes or 55 minutes doesn't really matter in the initial review and assessment of the patient," he said.

Trauma surgeons, nurses, technicians and more had to treat Scott before they realized they couldn't help, according to Seamons.

"They're all right there," he said. "And those are highly trained, highly specialized and highly paid clinical experts. Clearly in the aftermath, in hindsight, they looked at it and determined there was probably less need for that, but in the first five minutes all of those resources were right there at the side of this patient, and they cost a lot of money."

ABC 10 says that the letter included with the bill instructed the deceased to take his health care needs to a county clinic in the future. The hospital has apologized.

Why was Murdered Sac State Student's ER Bill So High? [News 10]
Slain Sac State Student's Parents Stunned by Hospital Bill, Letter [News 10]

If you're interested in statistics the Bureau has another one that you might like. The employment-to-population ratio calculates the proportion of the country's working-age population that is employed. Currently, our employment-to-population ratio is at 58.5%. Wikipedia tells us that a "high" ratio would be around 70%.

There's also something called the "underemployment" rate, which tracks part-time workers and those who have simply given up. This rate is currently at 17.5%, says the NYT.

As far as industries go, if you're in construction and manufacturing, you're in trouble. Manufacturing in particular has lost 2.1 million jobs in just the last 2 years.

Heath care, however, is doing fine. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that since the recession began, heath care has added 597,000 jobs.

The news is most grim if you're a teenager: 27.6% of teenagers who are looking for work are unable to find it.

Here's a scary/depressing graph:

Employment Situation Summary [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
U.S. Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years [NYT]
(Photo:Jay Adan)

54. If there is a prix fixe, let guests know about it. Do not force anyone to ask for the "special" menu.

58. Do not bring judgment with the ketchup. Or mustard. Or hot sauce. Or whatever condiment is requested.

62. Do not fill the water glass every two minutes, or after each sip. You'll make people nervous.

62(a). Do not let a glass sit empty for too long.

64. Specials, spoken and printed, should always have prices.

67. Never stack the plates on the table. They make a racket. Shhhhhh.

70. Never deliver a hot plate without warning the guest. And never ask a guest to pass along that hot plate.

78. Do not ask, "Are you still working on that?" Dining is not work - until questions like this are asked.

82. If you drip or spill something, clean it up, replace it, offer to pay for whatever damage you may have caused. Refrain from touching the wet spots on the guest.

85. Never bring a check until someone asks for it. Then give it to the person who asked for it.

86. If a few people signal for the check, find a neutral place on the table to leave it.

90. If someone is getting agitated or effusive on a cellphone, politely suggest he keep it down or move away from other guests.

PREVIOUSLY: 50 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 2) [NYT]
100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1) [NYT]
(Photo:Mike Fleming)

Stephanie says:

Mark (my brother) reviewed the sandwich at a Perkins in Madison Wisconsin. He was sorely disappointed when the sandwich looked completely different than the picture on the menu (they used regular grilled bread instead of the French baguette). He posted the negative review of the Perkins French Dip on his blog on November 1st. The next day, someone claiming to be a Perkins regional manager left a comment on the blog urging Mark to call him and let him fix the situation. He called the number and was quickly put in touch with Jon Sanborn, the Perkins regional manager. Jon investigated the bread situation, offered Mark a gift certificate, and invited him to come back and re-review the sandwich the next time he was in Madison. Equally impressive was that there was no mention of taking the review down or altering its contents.

I find it amazing that Perkins would seek out my brother and try to ascertain what went wrong with his dining experience, especially considering the blog currently has only 15 followers and I doubt a negative review would stop any of us from going to Perkins in the future.

Anyway, it turns out that the Perkins was out of the correct bread at the time and someone should have asked if regular bread was OK.

Here's how our French Dip expert describes Perkins' response:

Mr. Sanborn was apologetic for what had happened and wanted to make it up to me. So he told me that he would mail me a Perkins gift certificate! Please realize, Perkins found me out to make this situation right, I did not complain to them. If this indicative of how their franchise is run, all I can say is, "Thank you, Perkins, for putting the customer first." About how to use my compensation, fret not faithful readers, this gift certificate will only go back into purchasing more French dips for ingestion and judging, as I wish not to profit from the deeds I undertake selflessly reviewing everyone's favorite sandwiches of perfect harmony.

I informed Mr. Sanborn that in late January I would be in Madison again, and that I would love to review the same Perkins' French dip again. He told me that he doesn't really care what I do with my blog, just that he wants me to be happy.

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery at 5237 University Ave Madison, WI 53705 [The French Dip Review]
Update: The Perkins French Dip Review of November 1, 2009 and Jon Sanborn [The French Dip Review]

Reader Costner says:

Attached are two images taken the same day in the same Target. The two products are literally inches apart from one another, but one is $4.79 for the 80 count Lysol wipes while the other is $4.79 for the 110 count Lysol wipes. Now I'm not real strong at math, but I'm guessing the 110 count just might be a better deal. The sad part was the 110 count appeared to be full while the space holding the 80 count was partially empty.

...I opted to buy the 110 count version which actually rang up at the correct price of $4.79.

Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

Gothamist points us to a blog entry by a father who stayed at the hotel while visiting his daughter at NYU. Here's his story.

First, a description of the hotel:

The Jane is a 100-year old building on the Hudson river that was once a rooming house for sailors, with a long and colorful history - it even housed the survivors of the Titanic, and you can read all about it on their funky-groovy web site. What their site doesn't mention is that for some years, the beautiful building had fallen into decline, becoming sort of a derelict apartment house. It's now in the process of being remodeled into a hotel for those with "more dash than cash". Hey, that's me!

So, for the tidy sum of $115 a night, we were able to check in to a tiny room - really almost a closet - that consisted of bunk beds nestled next to a two foot by six foot stretch of carpet and a tiny window. Count us in!

And then, the incident:

I shared the elevator back up with a foreign woman, who got off on my floor. As we entered "the cloud", I said, "I wonder what died in this hall?"

She had a hand over her face, but with the other, she gestured to the strange, old door. There was a bright green sticker on it that I hadn't noticed today.

A police department sticker stating that the "room was sealed". In fact, the name of the sticker was "Seal For Door of D.O.A. Premises". Wow.

Our hero then begins to collect explanations from the hotel's staff. He never quite gets the same story.

By 9AM, the odor has finally dissipated as I make my morning coffee run down the street. I return and wait for the elevator with a really pleasant maintenance guy. He says "You should have seen this place before the remodeling… really run down", and explained that there were still residents on various floors, that those rooms were not yet remodeled, even down to the original doors still being in place.

Seeing I had an expert in my grasp, I inquired about the situation on the third floor. "Oh, that," he replied, "Someone with really bad hygiene".

I asked if the "hygiene police" had sealed the door. He laughed, leaned closer and whispered, "And some ladies used the bathroom in there, too".

Now, I've lived in 80-year old homes. I've dealt with dead squirrels in chimneys, dead rats in walls. There's only one smell like that, and it isn't hygiene. "So, that's the ‘official' story?"

He laughed. "Yes sir. That's the ‘official' story."

Yikes. Read the rest, here.

I Smell Dead People [Cloudy Project via Gothamist]
(Photo:Cloudy Project)

From the NY AG's office:

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," said Attorney General Cuomo. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices. These illegal tactics must stop and competition must be restored to this vital marketplace."

To obtain exclusive agreements, Intel paid hundreds of millions of dollars annually - and in some years billions of dollars - in so-called "rebates" to individual computer makers. These rebates were actually just payoffs with no legitimate business purpose that Intel invented to disguise their anticompetitive nature. Intel also attempted to erase the most obvious traces of its anticompetitive scheme by eliminating crucial but flagrantly objectionable provisions from written agreements or by camouflaging language about illegal guaranteed market shares with terms like "volume targets."

As for how this affects you, the consumer, the AG's office says that "Intel repeatedly pressured computer makers to guarantee it specified market shares of their sales, which prevented computer makers from responding to consumer demand."

The AG's office quotes some internal emails from Dell, HP and Intel in which alleged "anti-trust" activity is discussed. For example this is from an internal e-mail from HP executive in June 2004 after HP defied Intel and launched an AMD product: "Intel has told us that HP's announcement on Opteron [AMD's server chip] has cost them several $B [Billions] and they plan to ‘punish' HP for doing this."

And here's another one in which a HP executive discusses the possible repercussions for using another company's products:
"If you do and we get caught (and we will) the Intel moneys (each month is gone (they would terminate the deal). The risk is too high. Without the money we do not make it financially."

Here's the breakdown of how the AG's office says different computer makers were paid off by Intel to guarantee market share and keep businesses from using their competitor's products:

Dell

* In 2006, Intel paid Dell almost $2 billion in "rebates," and in two quarters of that year, rebate payments exceeded Dell's reported net income
* From 2001 to 2006, Intel granted Dell a privileged position vis-à-vis other computer makers in return for Dell's agreement not to market any products from Advanced Micro Devices ("AMD") (NYSE: AMD), Intel's major competitor
* Intel and Dell collaborated to market microprocessors and servers at prices below cost in order to deprive AMD of strategically important competitive successes

HP

* Intel threatened HP that it would derail development of a server technology on which HP's future business depended if HP promoted products from AMD
* Intel paid HP hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates in return for HP's agreement to cap HP's sales of AMD-based products at 5% of its business desktop PCs
* In 2006, Intel and HP entered into an broader, company-wide agreement to pay HP $925 million to increase Intel's shares of HP's sales at AMD's expense

IBM

* Intel paid IBM $130 million not to launch an AMD-based server product
* Intel threatened to pull funding for joint projects that benefited IBM if IBM marketed AMD-based server products
* Intel pressured IBM to launch another AMD-based server only on an "unbranded" basis

The NYT says that Cuomo's suit is the "first formal antitrust action against Intel by any government agency in the United States in more than a decade."

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO FILES ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST INTEL CORPORATION, THE WORLD'S LARGEST MAKER OF MICROPROCESSORS [NY AG]
Full Complaint (PDF) [NY AG]
(Photo:hanapbuhay)

Here's his story:

I roll it out of the long passage way and into the terminal to catch the connecting flight. I have 15 minutes. I open the outside zipper area to place my laptop bag in and see that the bag is FREAKING SOAKED. DRENCHED. Nervously and in slow motion I open the zipper to the main compartment of my camera bag and there water all throughout my bag. EVERYUWHERE. Dead serious. A good 3 cups worth. My stomach is in knots. For a second I about ot puked. My head spins, I get light headed and then my wooziness is replaced with anger. I'm pissed. I immediately go to the lady at the gate from where I just exited. I tell her my story and she looks into my bag in shock. She is extremely apologetic but can do nothing. She leads me to where I need to go, U.S. Airways customer service.

The story continues as he explains the situation to an employee who he describes as a "women/behemoth/monster/creature/prawn/leviathan thing-person." This thing-person is convinced that the photographer had a water bottle in his bag.

Here's the complete story. Anyone have any advice for him? He's insured, but wants US Airways to pay the deductible.

U.S. Airways sucks so freaking bad. I HATE them. I HATE THEM! [FredMiranda] (Thanks, Steve!)
Tips on Avoiding Baggage Problems [DOT]

From the WSJ:

The outage began at 5:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, and at around 1:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday morning, the carrier confirmed that service had been restored.

"We are now investigating the root cause of the incident," said a T-Mobile spokesman.

The latest outage threatens to re-ignite concerns stoked by the SideKick incident, in which Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) accidentally lost personal SideKick data stored in its servers. The company and its SideKick unit, Danger, later restored some of the data, but took a lot of public criticism for the slip-up.

T-Mobile USA Says It Has Fixed Voice, Data Outages [WSJ]
(Photo:medalian1)

Apparently, AT&T is quite concerned that less technically savvy potential customers will look at the maps and think AT&T doesn't work in Montana or something.

Verizon has already changed the commercial to include a disclaimer that voice and data are still available in the white space on AT&T's map, and have removed a reference to AT&T customers being "out of touch." This, however, was not enough for AT&T.

From their lawsuit:

By continuing to use a "3G" coverage map in its advertisements, Verizon is still conveying the message that AT&T has no coverage in the white or blank space included in the map, and thus AT&T customers cannot use their phones in large portions of the United States.

You can read the lawsuit here.

AT&T sues Verizon over 'there's a map for that' ads [Engadget]

Here's the thing. If you don't want to go to work, this is not the excuse to use — A) Because you have to stab yourself, and B) because nobody argues with the word "diarrhea" and they certainly do not go review security camera footage.

From ABC 7 in Denver:

Investigators reviewed surveillance video taken at a nearby business that failed to show an attack where [the Blockbuster guy] claimed it had happened.

[The Blockbuster guy] was re-interviewed by detectives who said he finally admitted he stabbed himself because he didn't want to go to work.

Police: Man Who Claimed Stabbing Didn't Want To Go To Work [ABC 7 via HuffPo]
(Photo:FleaTheMagician)

No, I'm not being sarcastic. This is legitimately good chicken wing eating technique. Enjoy.

[via BuzzFeed]

They did offer to sell me 3 sides for $1 though. They also gave me a free regular sized soda cup. Then I got to the fountain and knew why. Even the ice was broken.

This is sad.

"We're going into this business in a big way," Mr. Homeister said. "Our goal is to have broad availability in the marketplace, across multiple devices."

The idea is to allow consumers to pay once for a DVD and then be able to play it "any device: television, Blu-ray disc player, personal computer, handheld media player or smartphone."

Are you into this?

Best Buy Prepares for the Post-DVD Era [Best Buy]
(Photo:chhipkali)

From WLTX:

The man, whose description was sketchy , entered the fast-food restaurant just after 2 p.m. Monday and pointing a gun at the cashier, demanded money and told the cashier to get on the floor, said Lt. John Hickey of the Haverstraw Police Department.

The man then walked into the manager's office, which is located at the back of the store.

"He requested an application for employment and the manager said 'No,'" Hickey said. The manager asked the suspect to leave; he left the premises in an unknown direction.

This is total failure. He got neither money, nor tacos, nor a job application.

Police: Man Robs Taco Bell, Then Gets Job Application [WLTX] (Thanks, Nicholas!)
(Photo:Morton Fox)

6. Do not lead the witness with, "Bottled water or just tap?" Both are fine. Remain neutral.

7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness.

17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait.

24. Never use the same glass for a second drink.

27. For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour.

31. Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something went wrong.

42. Do not compliment a guest's attire or hairdo or makeup. You are insulting someone else.

43. Never mention what your favorite dessert is. It's irrelevant.

This is from just the first 50 of 100, and part two is promised soon. Do you agree with these? Have suggestions of your own?

100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1) [NYT]
(Photo:Ed Yourdon)

Turns out they both may be. The first study concentrated on low-income neighborhoods where obesity is a real problem — but where the customers are "price sensitive." The other study, done by the Department of Health, was city wide and included many more transactions.

From the NYT:

Last week, city health officials delivered a more upbeat assessment, saying New Yorkers ordered fewer calories at four chains - Au Bon Pain, KFC, McDonald's and Starbucks - after the law went into effect last year.

The changes reported by the city health department's preliminary data were modest, indicating little change either way in the number of calories bought at 8 of 13 chains surveyed, and a significant increase in calories ordered at Subway, which researchers attributed to a continuing $5 promotional special on footlong sandwiches that has tripled demand for them.

Subway led the way on menu labeling while other chains resisted. It seems they understood that posting calories wasn't going to hurt business — not when there are $5 footlongs to be had.

It seems that you can put lots of numbers on a menu, but people are still going to look at the ones that come after the dollar sign.

How Posted Calories Affect Food Orders [NYT]

From USAToday:

Last week, San Francisco sent a letter to Kellogg and to the Food and Drug Administration asking Kellogg to prove its claim. "I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children," said Dennis Herrera, the city attorney.

Kellogg says the critics are wrong. Development of the line started more than a year ago, and it was rolled out in May 2009. "It was not created to capitalize on the current H1N1 flu situation," spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz says. "Kellogg developed this product in response to consumers expressing a need for more positive nutrition."

Apparently, Kellogg sprayed some more vitamins A, C and E on the sugary puffs as justification for the new marketing language.

What do you think?

Critics blast Kellogg's claim that cereals can boost immunity [USAToday] (Thanks, Steve!)

Kelly says:

My mother has a Canon Pixma printer that she bought a year and a half ago, and uses it so much she goes through 4 cartridges a month (2 black, 2 color). She loves it and is dependent upon it for her work. However, the paper feed died a week ago (about 2 months after the warranty ended). She looked up support forums and contacted support, and both she and I did everything we could to try and resolve it. I remembered referencing an article on Consumerist about Canon's awesome support for cameras (which we used to help us get a point and shoot fixed for no charge), and so looked up Canon printer on Consumerist. I found http://consumerist.com/5384182/canon-replaces-lazy-readers-printer-6-months-out-of-warranty.

I showed my mom the article and the Consumerist site, gave her some tips on talking to the customer service reps (garnered from reading your articles), and voila! The customer rep was patient, helpful, and nice - and is shipping out a replacement printer for free, even though it's a couple months out of warranty.

Between the camera replacement, the printer replacement, and how much we love our Rebel XT DSLR, Canon has customers for life. I hate my current printer, and I will be buying a new Canon printer in the next month. And I wouldn't recommend anything else!

So kudos to Consumerist and Canon!

Thanks!!

Oh, we love it when a reader is able to replicate an above and beyond story. Yay!

From the NYT:

In the interview, Mr. Madoff said that the young investigators who pestered him over incidentals like e-mail messages should have just checked basics like his account with Wall Street's central clearinghouse and his dealings with the firms that were supposedly handling his trades.

"If you're looking at a Ponzi scheme, it's the first thing you do," he said.

Those simple steps, he added, could have revealed years earlier that he was running the largest Ponzi scheme ever, a crime that has now dragged the S.E.C. into the worst scandal in its 75-year history. "It would have been easy for them to see," he added.

We are reminded of a Frontline episode about Madoff in which they cover how someone entirely unrelated to the SEC or Madoff figured out the Ponzi scheme and was ignored.

Way to go, SEC!

Lapses Helped Scheme, Madoff Told Investigators [NYT]

Reuters says:

The U.S. Agriculture Department said it became aware the meat might be tainted by E. coli O157:H7 bacteria during an investigation of a cluster of food-borne illnesses in New England.

New Hampshire officials announced the death on Saturday but did not release information about the victim. Two other New Hampshire residents have been hospitalized, they said.

USDA said it worked with health officials and "determined that there is an association between the fresh ground beef products subject to recall and illnesses in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts."

To see the official recall notice, click here. Here's a pdf of the product labels.

New York Firm Recalls Fresh Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination [USDA]
New Englander dies as U.S. meat recalled [Reuters]

From KSFY:

"I talked to my bank today and she said when she called she was one of a couple hundred people that have already called," said Tori Feil. Tori was one of the lucky ones, if you can call her that, she used her card to pay here at the KFC twice since April and got re-billed again today totalling about $20.00.

Tori says, "I feel bad for the people, there are people who are regular customers there and all of the sudden they have $300-$400 charges coming through their account. A lot of people are are getting overdrawn and the banks don't really know what to do about it."

The owners of the KFC doesn't really know what happened:

"To be honest with you we didn't know what to do, I mean it hasn't been fun coming in the office everyday that's for sure, the phones have been ringing off the hook."

Well, whoops. They say they are doing everything in their power to get the money returned.

KFC Accidentally Double Charges Customers [KSFY]
(Photo:Morton Fox)

Apparently one can now buy new release books for about $5 cheaper than the wholesale price. From the WSJ:

The retailers are losing money on each copy sold because publishers charge them about 50% of a book's hardcover price. The prices for the 10 books involved in the promotion are also lower than the wholesale price independent booksellers pay for the merchandise.

Arsen Kashkashian, head buyer at the Boulder Book Store, in Boulder, Colo., said he had intended to buy as many as 70 copies of Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna" from Walmart.com, Target.com or Amazon, because their prices are "more than $5 cheaper than what we can get it for from the publisher, Harper.

The books in question are from Stephen King, John Grisham, Dean Koontz and James Patterson among others. The books have list prices of $22 to $35, but can be found at retailers for about $9.

Amid Price War, Three Retailers Begin Rationing Books [WSJ]

For those of you who feel that the term "sugar daddy" is offensive: Mattel says you've got it all wrong. The doll's dog is called "Sugar." Ken is his "daddy." Now don't you feel silly?

"The 'Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken' is actually part of the adult Barbie Collector Line," a spokesperson told the New York Post. "It is targeted toward adults."

"The little dog's name is actually Sugar," she said. "That's where the name comes from. He's Sugar's daddy, as a reference to the dog."

Latest Ken putting on the dog [NYP]

If you're interested in the deal, here's how it works: You get 60-days to evaluate the car. If you don't like it, you can return it and get the purchase price and the sales tax back. You have to keep the car for at least 30 days, and if you do more than $200 worth of damage to it — or put more than 4,000 miles on it — you no longer qualify.

There are a few more limitations and whatnot — and in all it's pretty clear that returning a car is a hassle. You'll be stuck with the fees from licensing, titling or registration, insurance, dealer installed accessories, aftermarket products or add-on equipment (other than factory options ordered with the vehicle), dealer fees, ancillary products including extended warranties or service contracts, finance charges, etc, etc.

If you're sure you want to buy a GM and don't want this guarantee — you get a $500 cash incentive for opting out— which may just be a better deal than the return policy.

60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee FAQ [GM]
GM Extends Vehicle Refund Program Until January [NYT]

The WSJ says:

The agreement would extend the existing credit for first-time home buyers, worth up to $8,000, while offering a new credit of up to $6,500 for some existing homeowners, Senate aides said. The reduced credit would be available to all home buyers who have been in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period in the past eight years.
...
The credit would be extended from its current expiration date of Dec. 1 to all contracts entered into by April 30, and closed before July 1. It is expected that income limits on people claiming the credit would be increased to $125,000 for singles and $250,000 for couples, from the current $75,000 and $150,000, aides said. The credit phases out for people making more than those amounts.

Will this credit help you buy a house?

Home Buyer Credit Gets New Life [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo:coffeego)

Unfortunately, while we do our best to answer your questions, in this case we have to admit: We do not f*cking know.

[Handerpants]
Handerpants: Support Where You Never Knew You Needed It [Gizmodo]

From the AP:

The third-quarter's performance - the strongest since right before the country fell into recession in December 2007 - was slightly better than the 3.3 percent growth rate economists expected.

Armed with cash from government support programs, consumers led the rebound in the third quarter, snapping up cars and homes.

Something about the phrase "armed with cash from government support programs" makes us wonder what surprises next quarter will hold.

Economy grows in 3Q, signals end of recession [AP]
(Photo:mraaronmorris)

The FDIC says:

Currently, the subject line of the fraudulent e-mails includes the wording "check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage." The e-mails state: "You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets."

The e-mails ask recipients to "visit the official FDIC website" by clicking on a hyperlink provided, which appears to be related to the FDIC and directs recipients to a fraudulent Web site. The Web site includes hyperlinks that appear to open forms. However, it is believed that clicking on the hyperlinks will cause an unknown executable file to be downloaded.

If your bank really does fail, the FDIC doesn't email you. In fact, they try to keep you out of it as much as possible.

For a look at how the FDIC deals with failed banks, check out this 60 Minutes story.

Fraudulent E-Mails Claiming to Be From the FDIC [FDIC]

The ad said she was a buxom blonde who was also a die hard Phillies fan and that the price she'd pay for the tickets was "negotiable."

"I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!" the ad said.

When the cop answered the ad, police say he was offered a variety of sex acts in exchange for the tickets. She has now been arrested.

Phillies fan arrested for sex-for-tickets offer [USAToday]
(Photo:loop_oh)

The Washington Post says:

Now, no signs or banners are permitted whatsoever. A spokesman told me that this policy is meant to protect spectators from getting injured by signs, and also to make sure everyone can see the action. Because obstructed views at that stadium could not possibly be tolerated.

One security guard told me the policy went into effect at the beginning of the season. Another told me they were just told about it a few weeks ago. Either way, I can't imagine there was a rash of tragic sign injuries since last season, when I never heard of such a policy.

The Post then attempted to document the rejected signs, many of which criticize the evil owner (for evidence of previous evil, click here), and his vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato.

For those of you not following the Redskins lately, they're 2-5 and have yet to beat a team that's won a game. They recently took offensive play calling away from their lame duck head coach and gave it to a guy who was quite literally calling Bingo the week before.

The Post tells the story of one longtime season ticket holder and his attempt to wear a t-shirt critical of 'Skins ownership:

And now it's Mike Broderick, a longtime season ticket holder, who came to the Chiefs game with Dumb and Dumber signs, attracting a security official who threatened to seize his season tickets. (See above.) The guard told Broderick he could either go to the security office, leave the stadium, or hand over the signs. So Broderick asked if he could put the image on a t-shirt instead.

"That would be kind of offensive," the security official said.

"It's offensive to come to these games," Broderick said he replied.

Broderick gave up the signs, and came back on Monday Night with new signs hidden under his jacket, and with t-shirts to match. The signs were about to be taken, as NFL Network cameras rolled live, and Broderick showed the security guy the team's old policy, printed in his telephone yellow pages, which he had brought as proof. Policy's been changed, he was told. Eventually, he said, security also made him turn his t-shirt inside-out, calling P.G. cops in for support. He said I could use his name, because his frustration overwhelms any fear of losing his seats.

"I'm to the point where I can't even give the stupid tickets away because people are so frustrated," he said.

Gee, Dan. Lighten up. These sign making hooligans are your customers, are they not?

Redskins ban signs at FedEx Field [Washington Post]

The burger, which apparently has like 2 lbs of meat or something absurd, has been spotted in the wild in Japan and in the US.

Here is a video of a man with a beard eating one. When asked how it is, he replies: "It's delicious. It's like eating an elephant."

So there you have it. According to the YouTube description, the burger is supposed to be only available in Japan, but our hero printed an article about it from Gizmodo, brought it to the restaurant and BK was happy to make one for him. It cost $9.19 before tax.