• investigations

    Video: Ben Popken Investigates for CNBC's On The Money

    Here's the clip from my piece and appearance on CNBC's On The Money on Friday night. I attended a Robert Allen Institute get rich in real estate seminar, interviewed some attendees, and gave tips on what to watch out for in "money-making opportunity" scams. Here are some red flags to beware:

    • Promises of fast and easy money
    • The person who brings you in gets a cut of your profits, and then you get a cut off new people you bring into the system
    • Requires large upfront fees before you really understand what's going on
    As one interviewee told me, anyone who's got a killer investing strategy is out there doing it, they're not giving free seminars about it. Watch the video, inside... More »

    8:05 AM on Sat Nov 8 2008
    By Ben Popken
    8,253 views, 50 comments

    Most discussed Teradoc: That is a good video, wish I had saw that over 4 years ago when I got suckered into Quixtar. I more »

  • Insurance

    Aetna: Instead Of Approving That $113,000 Life-Saving Brain Operation, We're Going To Cancel Your Coverage. Sorry!

    Meet 19-year-old Caitlin Jackson. Caitlin was recently diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, a potentially fatal brain disorder that interferes with motor control and memory. Immediate brain surgery is Caitlin's only treatment option, but her insurance company, Aetna, took its sweet time approving her operation, and then reversed itself claiming her benefits had expired. More »

    4:50 PM on Sat Jul 19 2008
    By Carey
    21,257 views, 167 comments

    Latest by HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak: @emilayohead: You've never been to an ER in the US, have you? Having been in a California ER several more »

  • clothing

    CNN Goes Into Apparel Business With Headline T-Shirts

    Michael wrote in to point out that CNN has a weird new feature on its site—now you can proudly display your favorite, uh, headlines(?) on your body with their "CNN Shirt" service. It's beta, naturally, and they pick the headlines you can choose from—so no "What drove dad who kept 'house of horror'?" tee to shame your parents during the next family holiday. (That's the current top headline on their home page.) More »

    11:52 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
    By Chris Walters
    3,256 views, 33 comments

    Latest by ironchef: I would buy a Glenn Beck is a Moron Tshirt. That would sell like hot cakes. more »

  • cable

    Why Does My Cable Company Force Me To Subscribe To All These Stupid Channels?

    If you're like most people, you look at your "basic" cable line-up and think: "Why do I have all these stupid channels? Wouldn't it be cheaper if I could just subscribe to the ones I actually like?"

    You're probably convinced that there's a huge conspiracy going on to get you to pay for a bunch of crap you don't want.

    You might be right. According to the American Cable Association (an organization that is obviously quite biased toward the cable industry) it's not your cable company's idea to force "Lifetime Movies" on you, it's the big media companies themselves that dictate cable line-ups through a technique called "tying and bundling." More »

    Feature

    12:32 PM on Wed Jan 23 2008
    By Meg Marco
    71,683 views, 245 comments

  • snubbed

    Target Refuses To Talk To Bloggers And "Non-Traditional Media Outlets"

    A Target billboard depicting a woman spreadeagled over a Target logo with her vagina centered squarely on the bullseye has some parents and feminists all riled up. One of them, Amy from ShapingYouth.org, contacted Target to see if they realized, you know, that their ad had a woman's crotch centered on a bullseye. More »

    5:42 PM on Wed Jan 16 2008
    By Meg Marco
    13,589 views, 102 comments

    Latest by HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak: I'm not at all offended by the ad, but I am pretty offended by Target's blanket stance that bloggers and more »

  • taking it seriously

    WestJet Is Taking Child Endangerment Seriously

    WHO: WestJet
    WHAT: Parents pay extra fee to airline so their five-year-old child traveling alone would be checked in and taken care of and escorted off the plane by airline personnel. Instead, she was ignored and the guy who sat next her on the flight helped her off, seeing as nobody from the airline was doing anything.
    WHERE: WestJet allows stranger to walk five-year-old girl off flight [CBC]
    THE QUOTE: "The situation is of utmost concern for WestJet and we are taking this matter very seriously. We have apologized to the parents of the child and are doing all that we can to ensure that this does not happen in the future."

    (Thanks to James and Kevin!)

    6:33 PM on Thu Jan 3 2008
    By Ben Popken
    3,000 views, 43 comments

    Latest by coren: @FatLynn: Probably, but they usually are stationed somewhere where you must pass them to get off the plane..expecting that kid more »

  • media

    FCC Says Comcast Can't Buy More Cable Companies, But Murdoch Can Own Everything

    Today, in an attempt to anger fans of both regulation and deregulation, the FCC approved two new rules. The first one restricts cable companies to owning no more than 30% of a market; the second one "gives owners of newspapers more leeway to buy radio and television stations in the largest cities." One nice thing about the first rule is that Comcast can't buy any more cable companies. One bad thing about the second one is that it will likely mean that Rupert Murdoch will win "permanent waivers to control two television stations in New York, as well as The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal." More »

    5:45 PM on Wed Dec 19 2007
    By Chris Walters
    1,083 views, 13 comments

    Latest by nidolke: Anyone with a cd player in their car has no reason to ever listen to the radio again, ever. more »

  • pr

    Gee Whiz! The Starbucks "Cheer Chain Phenomenon" Might Be A Lame PR Stunt

    Some cynical people, (not us, mind you) are starting to suspect that the news stories popping up all over the U.S. about Starbucks "cheer chains" might be planted by Starbuck's PR team. More »

    7:50 PM on Tue Dec 18 2007
    By Meg Marco
    8,812 views, 65 comments

  • news from the swamp

    FCC Approves Media Consolidation Plan On 3-2 Party Line Vote

    The Federal Communications Commission just approved Chairman Kevin Martin's plan to shred 32-year-old rules that block media conglomerates from controlling both a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market. The spectacled Chairman won on 3-2 party line vote, having failed to lure either Democratic commissioner with last-minute changes that will prevent the Commission from approving mergers in small media outlets that host profitable papers.

    Don't wave goodbye to diversity in the media just yet. Lawsuit-wielding advocacy groups will try to repeat the judicial slap-fest that followed the last FCC attempt to pass media consolidation in 2003. Congress is also looking to override the FCC, but the White House—big lovers of big media—has already issued a preemptory veto threat.

    FCC Backs Martin's Plan Easing Media Cross-Ownership [Bloomberg]
    FCC chief to adjust plan on media ownership rules [USA Today]
    (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    3:00 PM on Tue Dec 18 2007
    By Carey
    651 views, 14 comments

    Latest by goodkitty: @vastrightwing: How long do you think we have before ISP's start being required to block access to those kinds of more »