As we reported in March, a handful of Texas politicians were fed up with being felt-up and were considering a way to ban the TSA’s invasive pat-down procedures. Last night, that ban got closer to reality — or at least closer to becoming a courtroom battle — when the Lone Star State’s House of Representatives voted to approve legislation that would keep hands off travelers’ most personal areas. [More]
Government Policy
Texas House Passes Bill To Outlaw TSA Pat-Downs That Make Contact With Your Most Personal Parts
By 5.13.11
Entenmann's Pop'Ems Recalled In Four States For Mold Concerns
By 5.13.11
Bimbo Bakeries doesn’t just have an amazing name, it’s also the company that makes, among other products, Entenmann’s donuts. Alas, Bimbo has had to issue a recall for three different varieties of both Entenmann’s Pop’Ems donuts and its Bimbo Donitas. [More]
LimeWire To Pay $105 Million To Record Labels
By 5.13.11
Last October, a federal court shut down peer-to-peer file-sharing service LimeWire. Yesterday, the defunct company agreed to fork over $105 million to to settle a copyright infringement suit brought by 13 record labels. [More]
BCS "Punishes" Fiesta Bowl By Making It Donate $1 Million To Charity
By 5.13.11
After the Fiesta Bowl revealed it had misspent funds, buying extravagant, bribe-like gifts for power brokers — including strip club outings — and coercing illegal campaign contributions from staffers, Bowl Championship Series officials rattled their sabers. But despite vague threats to possibly strip the Arizona-based bowl game of its lofty BCS status, the organization has let the bowl off the hook with a stern lecture and an non-punishing punishment. [More]
Senators Ask SEC To Force Companies To Reveal Data Leaks
By 5.12.11
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller has come up with a new tactic to push companies like Sony to disclose hack attacks and data security breaches more promptly: He’s asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to require companies to treat attacks as time-sensitive information that must be provided to investors. [More]
Big Oil Execs Defend Need For $21 Billion In Tax Breaks
By 5.12.11
Even though Exxon Mobil alone earned more than $30 billion in profit in 2010 — and has reported a huge 69% increase in profit in the first quarter of 2011 — that company’s CEO was one of several oil biz execs trying to convince the Senate Finance Committee that they still need $21 billion in tax breaks. [More]
Civil Rights Group Sues Maryland's Education Commission For Discrimination
By 5.12.11
Maryland’s Higher Education Commission faces a lawsuit brought by a civil rights advocacy group that alleges the state’s treatment of its traditionally black institutions promote segregation and unfair education opportunities. [More]
White House Wants Mortgage Firms To Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure
By 5.12.11 — Updated: 7.25.16
An Obama administration plan calls for the 14 largest mortgage companies to contribute to a federal fund that would help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosures. [More]
FEMA Tries To Get Back Mistaken Payments To Disaster Victims
By 5.12.11
Deciding it had been a bit too generous when dishing out disaster aid, FEMA is going around asking for refunds of mistaken payments. Letters demanding repayment within 30 days are coming as a shock to disaster victims who say they needed the money to get back on track and no longer have it. [More]
Hedge Fund Billionaire Convicted On Insider Trading Charges
By 5.12.11
The Justice Department has managed to nail a hedge fund billionaire believed to be one of the many driving forces behind the financial crisis. The billionaire, the founder of the defunct hedge fund management firm Galleon Group, was convicted on 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy. [More]
FCC Commissioner Approves Comcast/NBC Deal, Leaves FCC To Go Work For Comcast
By 5.11.11
A few months ago, the Federal Communications Commission approved Comcast’s purchase of NBC by a vote of 4-1. At the time, many people joked that the commissioners were all just securing themselves a gig at Comcast for their post-FCC careers. Today, that joke became less funny after Comcast confirmed it has indeed hired one of the four commissioners who approved the controversial deal. [More]
Google Sets Aside $500 Million For Ad Settlement
By 5.11.11
Preparing to settle a Department of Justice investigation of “use of Google advertising by certain advertisers,” Google has set aside $500 million to make the investigation go away. [More]
Federal Judge Rules That Political Activists Can Use Company Logos
By 5.11.11
Political activists who use company trademarks to protest business practices often face lawsuits from offended organizations, but a ruling by a federal judge in Utah may stifle such suits because they violate First Amendment rights. [More]
Google Wants Nevada To Allow Its Driverless Cars On Roads
By 5.11.11
Google wants its self-driving cars to prowl Nevada streets, so it’s lobbying the state’s lawmakers to make its cars legal, and also give them exemptions from a distracted driver law that forbids text messaging while at the wheel. [More]
Dumping 2nd Mortgage Through Bankruptcy Is No Cake Walk
By 5.10.11
For anyone considering getting rid of their second mortgage in the manner described in yesterday’s post, bear in mind that it is by no means a painless process. One of our readers is a staff attorney for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee, and he writes in with more details about what this process entails. [More]
The President Will Text You When Terrorists Attack
By 5.10.11
America’s TVs and radios have the Emergency Alert System to notify people of dire local and national situations. Soon, your cell phone will act as a portable alarm for danger, too. [More]
Video: Shoplifters Smuggle Booze Between Legs
By 5.10.11
These three women put on a clinic of how not to shoplift from a liquor aisle. Spurning the tradition of trenchcoats or other types of baggy clothing, they manage to slip bottles of liquor underneath their skirts. They’re not as sneaky as they think they are because the store’s security camera captures them in mesmerizing action. [More]
23,000 Who Downloaded Stallone Flick Face Lawsuit
By 5.10.11
Hopefully 23,000 users who allegedly illegally downloaded The Expendables really, really enjoyed the movie, because now they’ll be paying for it with fear and loathing brought on by a lawsuit, as well as possibly tons of money. [More]
