A tech-savvy 12-year-old Minnesota girl reported a sexual assault by her mom’s ex-boyfriend by using her iPod to contact a friend through Facebook. [More]
Government Policy
Are You Ready For The Return Of Bratz Dolls?
By 7.22.10
After a 2008 court ruling found that the creator of the Bratz line of dolls had stolen the idea from Mattel (or rather, from himself, when he was working for Mattel), all Bratz products were supposed to be destroyed, and Mattel had the right to take over the brand and do whatever it wanted with it. A judge put the mass annihilation on hold, and today an appeals court overturned the initial ruling, meaning your local toy store may soon be carrying the next generation of the once-popular dolls. [More]
Congress OKs Unemployment Extension
By 7.22.10
The bill to extend and restore unemployment benefits to out of work Americans now only has to make its way to the White House after Congress passed the legislation by a vote of 272 to 152. [More]
DOT Calls BS On "Misleading And Premature" Tarmac Delay Study
By 7.21.10
Remember that study from yesterday that said there had been a significant increase in the number of flight cancellations since the DOT enacted new rules limiting the number of hours a plane can sit on the tarmac? Well, it’s not sitting with the folks behind the rule, who say it’s a bunch of hogwash. [More]
Oakland Gives Thumbs-Up To Large-Scale Marijuana Factories, Asks "Are You Gonna Eat That?"
By 7.21.10
While L.A. has been cracking down in a harsh way on medical marijuana dispensaries, its much cooler cousin up north, Oakland, is opening its arms to embrace the demon weed. Yesterday, the Oakland City Council approved an ordinance that could take pot-growing out of your basement and into legitimate commercial factories. [More]
Sears Settles Lawsuit Alleging Pricing Fraud
By 7.21.10
Sears paid out $1 million to settle a civil lawsuit with six California counties that accused the retailer of charging customers more for products than the advertised prices. [More]
Obama Signs Off On Financial Reform Bill
By 7.21.10
After months of debate and compromises that left some members of both parties less than thrilled, President Obama signed the financial reform bill into law this morning, which means that all problems with all banking is fixed forever… right? [More]
Illinois Town Wants To Outlaw Eye-Rolling
By 7.21.10
Next time you’re in line at the grocery store and you roll your eyes at the person with two carts full of items refusing to leave the 10-items-or-fewer line, you might be in trouble with the law — at least if you live in Elmhurst, Illinois. Officials of the Chicago suburb are looking into finding a way of putting an end to the practice by legal means. [More]
More Subpoenas For Toyota! This Time It's Steering Rods
By 7.20.10
Five years ago Toyota had a problem with their steering rods. Now a federal grand jury would like to see records relating to whether or not the company notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the problem in a timely fashion, says the WSJ. [More]
Perdue Recalls 90,000 Pounds Of Chicken Nuggets From Walmart Stores
By 7.20.10
The USDA and Perdue have issued a recall for more than 90,000 pounds of Great Value frozen chicken nuggets — all of it shipped to Walmart stores — because there is a possibility that the food could contain “foreign materials.” [More]
Homegrown Currencies Are Popular Right Now, But Do They Work?
By 7.20.10
Remember the Downtown Dollars that Ardmore, PA sold to its citizens this year? Sara Lepro at American Banker looked at that and other “homegrown currency” experiments happening across the country, which are intended to stimulate the local economy and take advantage of “a growing ‘localism’ movement.” [More]
More Than 40 Experts Issue Call For More Government Stimulus And Tax Credits
By 7.20.10
Online news site The Daily Beast is apparently tired of this whole “floundering economy” thing, so it got more than a dozen economists and historians to come together and issue a manifesto yesterday calling on the U.S. government to “reboot America.” By the end of the day, the number of experts supporting the manifesto increased to more than 40. They argue that the government has to help return lost purchasing power to the unemployed and must use tax cuts and stimulus to boost overall demand, or we’ll never make it out of this slump. [More]
Consumer Advocate Says Protection Agency Should Be Like Harvard's Elizabeth Warren
By 7.19.10
Jeff Sovern at Public Citizen has a simple message for the Washington bureaucrats who will soon create the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency: Put Elizabeth Warren in charge and build the agency in her image.
Why Elizabeth Warren, you ask?
Will 'Flying Pasties' Help Hide Your Private Bits From Airport Scanners?
By 7.19.10
From the TSA employee mocked by his co-workers for his teeny weeny to the Heathrow employee harassed for her ample bosom, full-body airport scanners are responsible for their fair share of controversy. Now the travel-writin’ folks at Jaunted have stumbled across a new invention that claims to end such troubles by slapping stickers on your most private bits. [More]
Nestlé Agrees To Stop Promising Boost Kiddie Drink Is Anti-Diarrheal, Pro-Studying
By 7.19.10
Nestlé is the latest company to slap some nutrients (or in this case probiotics) in a product, call it “functional food,” and market it to shoppers as a healthy and smart product. Last week, the FTC got the company to agree to stop claiming that its chocolate Boost Kid Essentials–which comes with a straw lined with probiotic bacteria (mmm delicious!)–will do things like protect them from diarrhea and improve school attendance rates. The FTC says the claims aren’t substantiated with adequate scientific research. [More]
FTC To Take A Closer Look At Debtors Being Thrown In Jail
By 7.16.10
It’s not a crime to owe money, and debtors prisons have been abolished — but that doesn’t mean that people are not being routinely arrested and put in jail for failing to pay debts. A few weeks ago the Minneapolis Star-Tribune published an investigative piece about arrest warrants being issued for people with less than $100 in debt, many of whom didn’t even know that a collector had taken legal action against them. Now, following a letter by Sen. Al Franken (noted hater of the Comcast, NBC merger), the FTC has agreed to look into the issue. [More]
Tobacco Companies Say Menthol Cigarettes Don't Encourage Kids To Smoke
By 7.16.10
The FDA is having a hearing to determine whether or not it should ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. The Tobacco Control Act already banns most tobacco flavorings, but does not include menthol — which makes up about one third of the $70 billion cigarette business. [More]
TSA App Tells You How Long You Will Have To Stare At Other People's Luggage
By 7.16.10
Wondering how long you’ll be standing in the security line, staring at other people’s luggage choices? The TSA has an app for you that relies on crowd-sourced data to give you estimated wait times at a variety of airports. [More]
