A breast cancer survivor says she was forced to go through a patdown where TSA agents touched her breasts, even though she had already gone through the backscatter body scanner and had an ID card explaining the tissue expanders in her chest. [More]
Government Policy
Residents Of Milwaukee Suburb Told To Boil Bacteria-Plagued Water
By 10.3.11
Those who live in 14,000-strong Greendale, Wis. have to make like campers sustaining themselves from a creek and boil all their water until further notice. The town’s officials said in a statement that coliform bacteria were found in the water supply last week, and the tap water is no longer good for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing hands. [More]
Doctors Sue Washington State For Limiting ER Visits For Medicaid Patients
By 10.3.11
In order to curb medical costs, Washington state lawmakers have capped the amount of annual “non-emergency” visits Medicaid patients can make to emergency rooms at three. Furious about the seemingly arbitrary restriction on patients’ rights, a group of doctors has sued the state over the measure. [More]
Washington Makes You Decide Between Medical Marijuana & Guns
By 10.1.11
Medical marijuana and owning guns are both legal in the state of Washington. But before you’re all like, oh, that is really scary/fun, don’t worry/get too excited because the feds are not going to let those two things coexist. [More]
Delta Air Lines & Disabled Passengers Settle 3-Year-Old Discrimination Suit
By 10.1.11
Five disabled passengers have finally reached a settlement with Delta Airlines after a three-year battle against the carriers claiming discrimination at the Detroit airport. [More]
Utah Movie Theater Fined For Showing Hangover II
By 9.30.11
There are a number of theaters across the country that like to combine movie-showing with beer-drinking and as long as all the patrons are of legal drinking age, there are usually no issues about what’s being shown on screen. But the state of Utah has decided that if you show a movie featuring naked bodies, that makes your business answerable to the same rules governing strip clubs — and subject to thousands of dollars in fines. [More]
Kraft Recalls 137,000 Velveeta Shells & Cheese Cups Because Thin Pieces Of Wire Are Not Part Of Your Daily Diet
By 9.30.11
Kraft Foods has announced a recall of three varieties of Velveeta Shells & Cheese single serve microwaveable cups as a precaution due to the “possible presence of small, thin wire bristle pieces.” [More]
Zoka Coffee Responds To FDA Warning Letter
By 9.30.11
Yesterday, we reported how Seattle-based coffee seller Zoka Coffee had received a warning letter from the FDA regarding an April inspection that discovered more than a few rodent feces. After the story was posted, Zoka reached out to Consumerist to give its side of the story. [More]
Feds Charge 37 Boeing Workers In Drug Bust
By 9.30.11
Giving headline writers an excellent opportunity to make puns about aerospace workers getting high, federal agents arrested 37 Boeing workers in a drug bust at a plant near Philadelphia. The undercover operation was a four-year sting meant to expose a ring of prescription drug abuse. [More]
GM Introduces First Front-Center Air Bag
By 9.29.11
In an effort to protect folks in the front seat during side impact crashes, General Motors announced earlier today that it plans to introduce the industry’s first front-center air bag in three of its vehicles starting with model year 2013. [More]
FDA Warns Seattle-Based Coffee Company That Rat Poo Is Not Part Of A Seasonal Blend
By 9.29.11
UPDATE: Both Zoka and the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture have responded to Consumerist regarding the situation.
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Bill Introduced To Let Robots Call Your Cellphone
By 9.29.11
Since ’91, it’s been illegal for telemarketers to use autodialers and other robot-like devices to call your cellphone. Last week, a bill was introduced to change that. While in the past email hoaxes have gone around saying that your cellphone could be opened up to telemarketers, HR 3035 seeks to let businesses contact your cellphone “for informational purposes.” [More]
DOJ Petitions Supreme Court To Review Health Care Challenge
By 9.29.11
It was inevitable that it would come to this; it was just a matter of which side would make the request first. Yesterday, the Dept. of Justice filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the nine robed ones to review the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. [More]
680 lb Man Fired For Being Obese
By 9.29.11
Ronald at one point weighed 680 lbs, a fact that never interfered with his ability to do his job. He received high marks in his performance reviews. Despite this, he was fired for his weight. [More]
This Texas Instruments Calculator Can't Calculate Correctly
By 9.29.11
There’s a basic assumption that consumers have about calculators: that you put numbers in, and the calculator spits answers out. Correct answers. Accurate answers. In the case of the Texas Instruments scientific calculator that John bought recently, he tells Consumerist that this is a false assumption. As false as the answers it gave him for the area of a circle. [More]
Lawsuit Claims "Black Swan" Movie Floated On Unpaid Intern Labor
By 9.29.11
Countless youngsters attempting to claw their way into the film business will gladly work for free, and a lawsuit filed in federal court accuses the production of the film Black Swan of exploiting those masses. Two men who worked on the movie claim the film broke labor laws by hiring more than 100 interns to do work that should have been handled by paid employees. [More]
4 People Get Pot From Government In Old Federal Program
By 9.29.11
At one point, 14 people in the United States received medical marijuana regularly from the government. Started in a 1976 court ruling, the program that facilitated the unorthodox treatments stopped accepting applicants in 1992, but four surviving patients still count Uncle Sam as their drug dealer. [More]
If Inflation Droops, Federal Reserve May Pump It Up
By 9.29.11
It’s tough for consumers to rationalize how inflation could be a good thing, especially if they haven’t received pay increases in years, but increasing costs are believed by many to be a sign of a healthy economy. That’s why Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Wednesday that the central bank will keep a close eye on inflation levels and may altar monetary policy to maintain the phenomenon if prices start to level off. [More]
