Thanks to the Food and Drug Administration, those who suffer enlarged prostates have a new weapon at their disposal to combat the condition. Cialis, which messages in your spam filter repeatedly inform you has formidable powers of revitalization, can now be prescribed to pound away at prostates that have gotten too big for their britches. [More]
Government Policy
Government Tells Power Plants To Go Ahead And Pollute More
By 10.7.11
Proposing to relax emissions standards for power plants in 10 states, the Environmental Protection Agency is allowing power plants to send more pollution across state lines than previously allowed. And plants that ignore the relaxed Cross-State Air Pollution Rule guidelines and keep on going pollution-crazy won’t have to pay any penalties until 2014 rather than previously-planned 2012. [More]
Feds Tell California To Shut Down Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Within 45 Days
By 10.7.11
California’s medical marijuana dispensaries are legal in the state, but in breach of federal law. Now feds are cracking down on businesses that distribute the product, telling them they have 45 days to shut down. [More]
Oracle Must Pay Nearly $200 Million In Largest False Claims Act Settlement
By 10.7.11
The U.S. General Services Administration has nailed tech company Oracle Corporation for allegedly violating the False Claims Act. The company will have to pay $199.5 million for failing to meet contractual obligations, apparently because it didn’t provide correct information about sales practices and discounts offered to customers. The figure is believed to be the largest settlement collected under the act. [More]
Cordray One Step Closer To Becoming CFPB Head
By 10.6.11
Nearly three months after President Obama nominated Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the former Ohio Attorney General has gotten one step closer to filling that position after the Senate Banking Committee voted to approve the nomination. [More]
Georgia Woman Wins $25 Million Lottery Due To Clerk's Mistake
By 10.6.11
It takes an incredible amount of lock to win a lottery jackpot, and still greater fortune to win on a ticket you didn’t even intend to purchase. A Georgia woman who was looking for a job won out on both fronts when she won on a ticket a clerk gave her by accident. [More]
Alabama Illegal Immigrant Law Could Leave State With Job Surplus
By 10.6.11
An Alabama law meant to crack down on illegal immigration may be so effective that the state won’t have enough immigrant labor to fill its labor requirements. Immigrant farm and construction workers, as well as their legal citizen relatives, are reportedly said to be leaving the state in such high numbers that some employers may have trouble filling openings if the economy picks up. [More]
Wisconsin Rep Seeks To Repeal Anti-Margarine Law
By 10.5.11
A Wisconsin state legislative rep who Googled “Stupid Wisconsin Laws” has introduced a bill to overturn one of the dumbest ones he found: a law that forbids “colored margarine” from being served at a restaurant unless a customer asks for it. [More]
Couple Sues Cox After Cable Guy Kills Their Son
By 10.5.11
An Arizona family is suing Cox cable company after one of the cable companies’ outsourced technicians executed their son in a botched break-in. That ex-contractor is now sitting on death row. [More]
Man Sues After Eating Listeria-Tainted Cantaloupe
By 10.5.11
Cantaloupe tainted by listeria have led to 13 deaths, and now, a lawsuit against Jensen Farms and Walmart. [More]
Madoff Victims Will Start Getting Refunds This Week
By 10.5.11
Those who lost money investing with jailed shyster Bernie Madoff will be getting some of their ill-advised expenditures back this week, thanks to the bankruptcy court-mandated liquidation of his estate. [More]
Medical Marijuana User: Papa John's Driver Ratted Me Out To The Cops
By 10.4.11
We imagine that food delivery drivers see their fair share of customers under the influence of any number of legal and illegal intoxicants. But unless the customer becomes belligerent or refuses to pay, it’s pretty rare to hear about the authorities being called in. That’s why a man in Colorado is fuming mad at his Papa John’s driver. [More]
Obama's Debt Reduction Plan Includes Letting Debt Collectors Robo-Call Cellphones To Collect On Federal Student Loans
By 10.4.11
One part of the debt-reduction bill Obama sent to Congress is a provision that would let debt collectors robo-call cellphones to collect on what’s owed to the government, like federal student loans. [More]
Senators Introduce Bill To Ban Mandatory Binding Arbitration Clauses In Cellphone Contracts
By 10.4.11
When you buy a new cellphone you have to sign a contract where you give up your right to sue. You agree to what’s called, “mandatory binding arbitration.” This is a bad thing to give to an industry that has high levels of complaints about hidden fees and abusive anti-consumer practices. Because if their crummy customer service fails to remedy an issue, your last resort option is to participate in a kangaroo court system that is paid for out of fees paid by the cellphone companies themselves. So Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Al Franken (D-MN) have today introduced The Consumer Mobile Fairness Act that would ban mandatory arbitration clauses in cellphone contracts. [More]
TSA Agent Retrieves Cellphone From Locked Car, Hands To You At Gate
By 10.4.11
TSA agents get a bad rap here and elsewhere, so when one of them acts like a human being, nay, a super human being, it is our duty to inform you. Alanna had one such experience this morning when a TSA agent went extremely out of her way to help Alanna get her cellphone from the rental car she had locked it in. This was very helpful because the rental office only opened a half-hour before her plane took off. [More]
8 States Hike Minimum Wages
By 10.4.11
Eight state governments are forcing bosses to give low-rung workers pay raises, thanks to automatic annual raises in minimum wages. Washington state leads the way, scheduled to up its minimum wage 37 cents an hour to $9.04 next year. Burger flipping in Colorado will still only pay $7.64 in 2012, but at least that’s better than the $7.36 it pays now. [More]
Studio Dismisses More Than 21,000 Sued For Downloading "Hurt Locker"
By 10.4.11
The studio that produced The Hurt Locker sued 24,583 unnamed people for illegally downloading the film. Now more than 21,000 of those John Does can breathe a little easier because the studio has dismissed them from the suit, leaving more than 2,300 in its sights. [More]
Four Loko Changing Cans To Show How Many Beers You Would Actually Need To Drink To Get The Same Buzz
By 10.3.11
For some reason, the makers of Four Loko have been downplaying the amount of alcohol in their big, candy-colored cans. And so today, as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the makers of Four Loko agreed to new labeling that will more accurately let buyers know just how drunk they can get on a single can. [More]
