Airport security areas are basically just one big change jar, as the Transportation Security Administration reports that passengers left behind around $400,000 in coins in 2010. Which means either we’re forgetting our nickels and dimes or consciously choosing to ditch those pennies instead of filling our pockets back up. [More]
Government Policy
The TSA Cupcake Lady Speaks: I'm Truly Sick Of Talking About Cupcakes
By 1.12.12
While the “TSA Cupcake Lady” is sick of talking about cupcakes, she’s also determined that the dessert in question not be woefully misrepresented by descriptions of it being “packed in icing.” To that end, she was kind of enough to write in and explain her side of the story, in response to the TSA’s recent blog reaction to the cake kerfuffle. [More]
FDA Puts Squeeze On Orange Juice Shipments, Checks For Fungicide
By 1.12.12
Determined not to let orange juice double as unintentional contraception, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has frozen shipments to check for carbendazim, a fungicide banned in much of the world that is believed to cause infertility. As much as 25 percent of the American juice supply comes from abroad, and the FDA acted on a report that a juice company detected the fungicide in imports from Brazil, which provides 11 percent of America’s OJ. [More]
FCC Chair Calls AT&T/T-Mobile Failure "Reminder Of The Benefits Of Competition"
By 1.11.12
In less than a year, AT&T went from swallowing up T-Mobile USA for for $39 billion to owing T-Mobile’s German parent company $3 billion in cash and another billion in spectrum because that deal slammed into the regulatory roadblock at the FCC and the Justice Dept. Speaking for the third year in a row at the Consumer Electronics Show, FCC chair Julius Genachowski defended his agency’s actions against the deal. [More]
Crab Soup Recalled for Undeclared Milk, Wheat and…Crab?
By 1.11.12
The sharp-eyed regulators at the FDA warn that Whole Foods is recalling cans of Rip Roar’N Crab Soup because the labels fail to tell consumers of a chief ingredient: crab. Wait. What? [More]
U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Consumer Credit Card Claims Must Be Handled By Arbitration
By 1.11.12
Credit card companies scored a win yesterday, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that credit card claims by consumers must go to arbitration, instead of being tried in a court room. The ruling overturned one made by a U.S. appeals court in San Francisco that had said the Credit Card Repair Organizations Act was meant to bar arbitration. [More]
TSA Proclaims That Once A Cupcake Is Inside A Jar, It's Not Okay To Carry On
By 1.11.12
The Transportation Security Administration wants you to know that it takes “cupcakegate” very seriously, which is why they’re reiterating why it was deemed not okay for a woman to take a cupcake through security in a jar, when carrying a regular, non-jarred up dessert with icing is fine. It’s the level of frosting, you see, and the 3-1-1 rule. [More]
Lawsuit Puts The Squeeze On Tropicana Orange Juice's Claim Of 100% Natural
By 1.10.12
Consumers don’t like juiced up claims of natural ingredients, which is why one California woman is suing Tropicana’s parent company over its claims that their orange juice is “100% pure and natural.” [More]
Why Olympus Is In Serious Trouble (And It Has Nothing To Do With Their Cameras)
By 1.10.12
For camera companies, 2011 is a year they’d like to forget — natural disasters have wreaked havoc on Japanese manufacturers and delayed many a product launch. But last summer, Olympus suffered a different kind of catastrophe, one that was man-made, but perhaps much more damaging, and which, if the company goes under, could affect consumers who own Olympus devices, such as cameras, audio recorders, or other products. For instance, it may be difficult to send a device back for repairs or replacement if there’s no company to send it to. [More]
Hostess Prepares To File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection
By 1.10.12
Gird your Twinkies, Hostess lovers: The maker of those frosting-filled yellow logs is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week, says a new report. It’s the second time in recent years that it’s attempted to restructure in court. [More]
3 Things You Need To Know Before Filling Out A FAFSA
By 1.9.12
If you’re a college student who seeks financial aid, part of your annual ritual is filling out a
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which lets you see what financial aid you qualify for. In its own way, the application is as important as any research paper or test you’ll complete at school. [More]
Study: Only 14% Of Medical Errors Reported By Hospitals
By 1.6.12
In order for a hospital to participate in the Medicare program, it must develop and maintain a Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program to “track medical errors and adverse patient events, analyze their causes, and implement preventive actions and mechanisms that include feedback and learning throughout the hospital.” However, a new study by the Dept. of Health & Human Services found that only a small portion of patient errors are being reported — and that hospitals don’t seem to give a damn about fixing things. [More]
Watch Yourselves, Moneybags: The IRS Says It It's Auditing More Of You Than Before
By 1.6.12
The Internal Revenue Sercice is onto you, millionaires, so you best be careful as to how you spend all that money and file your taxes right. The IRS revealed in an enforcement report this week that they’re auditing more wealthy taxpayers for 2011 than 2010. [More]
SEC To Be Slightly Less Wimpy About Letting Violators Get Away Without Admitting Guilt
By 1.6.12
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been taking a lot of heat recently after a federal judge refused to sign off on its $285 million settlement with Citigroup because, as is usual in these types of deals, the bank would neither admit its guilt nor profess innocence, and no evidence was ever entered into the record. But now the SEC says it won’t be letting rulebreakers get off so easily — well, at least not all the time. [More]
ID Now Needed To Buy Drain Cleaner In Illinois
By 1.6.12
With every new year comes a new set of laws, some of which are destined to, in the words of the great Arsenio Hall, make you go “hmmm…” One of the latest is a new regulation in Illinois that requires you to show your ID and sign a log if you purchase drain cleaner or other similarly caustic substances. [More]
Lawsuit Against Frito-Lay: "All-Natural" Means You Shouldn't Be Using Genetically Modified Ingredients
By 1.6.12
One woman in California isn’t about to let a big food company get away with what she says is fraudulent advertising. Frito-Lay is the subject of a new class action suit, which alleges that though they tout certain products as “all natural,” they actually contain genetically modified ingredients, or GMs. [More]
Labor Department Reports 200,000 New Jobs Were Added Last Month
By 1.6.12
In a sign that perhaps the U.S. economy is finally chugging forward like the little engine that could, the Labor Department announced today that 200,000 new jobs were added last month. [More]
