The owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf issued an apology after calling 2010 its “best year” ever in safety. Transocean did not comment on the safety bonuses it awarded top execs for meeting and exceeding internal safety goals, even considering the disaster at the rig run by BP resulting in 11 workers dead and 200 million gallons of oil spilled. [More]
Government Policy
OB Tampons Reappearing On Shelves
By 4.4.11
Looks like o.b. brand tampons, missing from shelves for months because of an unspecified Johnson & Johnson “supply chain interruption,” are slowly making their way back into stores. The company announced back in February that they were back, and a reader saw them at their Fred Meyer in Arkansas, but by mid-march another reader said they hadn’t returned. Here it’s April and o.b.’s haven’t returned to my go-to supermarket here in Brooklyn but then I spotted these at a local upmarket pharmacy this weekend. At this point it’s a question of what suppliers your store is working with. Ask your store manager if you still don’t see them yet. [More]
This Cigarette Ice Cream Truck Is Doing It Wrong
By 4.4.11
Pro tip: when you buy an old ice cream truck and turn it into a mobile cigarette dispensary, you should probably cover up all the old ads for Bombpops and Choco Tacos. Reader discounteggroll’s co-worker snapped this picture at a gas station on the NY-CT border in Greenwich, CT. (Perhaps the truck is parked on the CT side of the parking lot, to take advantage of CT’s lower cigarette tax?) If it doesn’t violate any regulations, like the Tobacco Control Act of 2009 which prohibits the sale, distribution, marketing and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children under the age of 18, it’s in poor taste, even with the sign asking for ID. “One Big Vanilla ice cream sandwich, please.” “Sorry kid, we got Pall Malls.” [More]
Original Madden Video Game Creator Sues EA For Billions
By 4.4.11
Sports simulation games take strides to replicate their real-life counterparts, but Madden NFL game publisher EA would rather not be facing a legal dispute that somewhat echoes the NFL’s labor troubles. [More]
Jennie-O Recalls 55,000 Pounds Of Turkey Burger Because Salmonella Isn't Very Good For You
By 4.4.11
Lots of people are always going on about how turkey burgers are healthier for you than beef, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for the nearly 55,000 pounds of raw turkey burger that Jennie-O has had to recall over worries about possible salmonella poisoning. [More]
Cracks Found In Three More Southwest Jets
By 4.4.11
It has not been a good weekend for Southwest Airlines. The carrier grounded dozens of planes and canceled hundreds of flights after a hole opened up in the fuselage of a plane in mid-flight on Friday. Investigators subsequently found widespread cracking in that plane. And now comes news that cracks have been found in at least three more Southwest jets. [More]
Report Says BP Wants To Get Back To Drilling
By 4.3.11
According to a new report, BP is asking permission from U.S. regulators to continue its drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico. [More]
FDA Proposes More Food Establishments Provide Calorie Info In Menus
By 4.3.11
Maybe you won’t want to eat that double bacon cheeseburger and large fries if the menu you order it from says its 1,600 calories. At least that’s wht the Food and Drug Administration is hoping with their proposal that menus be required to list calorie counts at chain restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, convenience stores and coffee chains. [More]
American Apparel May Pout Its Way Into Bankruptcy
By 4.1.11
American Apparel, the store perhaps better known for the barely legal, oft-undressed models in its ads, and the peccadilloes of company founder Dov Charney, than for its actual clothing, has alerted the Security and Exchange Commission that it may need to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [More]
Goldman Actually Borrowed From Fed Discount Window 5 Times, Contradicting Bank Claims
By 4.1.11
Looks like Goldman has been a more frequent visitor to the Federal trough than they’ve been letting on. Despite testifying before Congress that they had only accessed the Federal Reserve’s discount window, which lets banks borrow cash from the government quickly and on favorable terms, just once, Bloomberg reports that recently released data shows they actually took at least five overnight loans from the Fed between September 2008 and 2010. [More]
FDA Lets Pharmacies Compete Against Price Gouging Company Making Pregnancy Drug
By 4.1.11
Reacting to a pharmaceutical company’s seemingly greedy ploy to jack up a premature birth-preventing drug from $10-$20 to $1,500 after the Food and Drug Administration granted it exclusive rights to produce the drug, the FDA shifted course and will allow specialty pharmacies into the market. [More]
Combination Axe/Knife Recalled Due To Laceration Hazard
By 4.1.11
You can cut yourself when using an axe with a knife that nestles inside the handle? Who knew? Silly as it might sound, this is a real hazard, since the knife can theoretically fall out of the axe handle while you’re using the axe to chop. A related product that contains a saw instead of a knife has not been recalled. The company that distributes the product, Gerber Legendary Blades (part of Fiskars) has received five reports of five injuries that required stitches, so stop giggling. [More]
At Least One FCC Commissioner Thinks AT&T/T-Mobile Deal Won't Be A Cakewalk
By 4.1.11
With the pending $39 billion sale of T-Mobile to AT&T heading toward review by the various regulatory bodies involved, there is at least one senior FCC commissioner who thinks it might not be so easy for the deal to go down. Of course, he was the one commissioner who voted against the NBC/Comcast deal. [More]
Help, The Price Of My Life-Saving Drug Went Up 2000%!
By 4.1.11
Colchicine, a drug primarily used to treat gout, is an old drug. Very old. Extracts from the plant it comes from, colchicum, have been used in gout treatment for thousands of years. In pill form as colchicine, it’s been on the market in the United States since the 19th century and predates the Food and Drug Administration. A few years ago, the company that makes one brand of the drug, Colcrys, obtained FDA approval for their version, and the exclusive rights to sell it in the United States for three years. Who cares? Reader Nick does. He works in retail, isn’t wealthy, and the colchicine he takes twice a day for a serious medical condition shot up in cost from about $20 per month to closer to $400. [More]
New Hampshire Fish And Game Warns That Bears Dig Your Bird Feeders
By 3.31.11
Looking to frighten viewers into putting away their bird feeders, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department warns you that bears are looking to romp into your yard and tear into them. [More]
CPSC Deems Water-Walking Balls A "Deadly Danger"
By 3.31.11
For millions of Americans, swimming pool season isn’t far around the corner (if it ever stops snowing, that is). But before we’ve even strapped on our floaties, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a warning on those huge, inflatable “water-walking” balls, which the CPSC says present the double threat of suffocation and drowning. [More]
How West Virginia Tax Money Ended Up In Phoenix Strippers' G-Strings
By 3.31.11
The college football bowl system is alleged to be rife with corruption, some of which bubbled to the surface in an Arizona Republic report that identified rampant misuse of funds by Fiesta Bowl officials. [More]
Radiation Found In US Milk Supply In Trace Amounts
By 3.31.11
Great, now kids have a new excuse for not drinking their milk: US milk samples from Spokane, Washington have tested positive for a radioactive iodine blown over from Japan, the EPA announced Wednesday. The amounts are small, only 0.8 pico-curies, according to tests taken March 25 by the agency, and are 5,000 times below the FDA’s “intervention level.” [More]
