Of all the feelings one gets while walking the aisles of a Walmart, sexual excitement rarely factors into the spectrum. Unless you were the guy in Louisiana Walmart who was arrested for touching himself while gawking at a young boy in the store’s electric department. [More]
Government Policy
No, The Right To Call And Sell You Stuff Is Not Transferable
By 7.8.10
Russell wants to know: if a company cold-calls you to sell you things when you’re part of the federal Do Not Call registry, and insists that the call is totally legal because they’ve “partnered with” a company that you do business with, does that make it okay? No. No, it does not. [More]
Stadium Light Poles Recalled Because They Could Spoil Your Game By Falling Over
By 7.7.10
Nothing ruins a good game of slo-pitch softball with your buddies than when a 70-foot-tall light pole falls down and goes “splat” on your shortstop. Apparently this has happened enough with a particular brand of stadium light poles that the CPSC has decided to issue a recall on them. [More]
US Is A Dumping Ground For Crappy, Dangerous Olive Oil
By 7.7.10
Demand for extra virgin olive oil is up — but we apparently don’t have strict standards that prevent companies from adulterating “extra virgin” olive oil with cheaper stuff such canola, safflower or peanut oils, says the LA Times. New standards from the US Department of Agriculture aim to change that this fall, however. [More]
Wall Street Threatens To Get Back At Politicians For Financial Reform
By 7.7.10
Bankers are planning to tighten the purse strings when it comes time to donate to political campaigns as a way of letting elected representatives know they’re not too happy about the whole financial reform thing. [More]
Passport Fees Rising On July 13
By 7.7.10
If you have apply or renew passport on your to-do list, better put it on your “done” list this week if you want to save money. Starting July 13, new higher passport fees go into effect. [More]
Jury Punches Nursing Home Company With $671 Million Fist
By 7.7.10
A jury in California has slapped Skilled Healthcare Inc. with $671 million in damages for a four-year-old lawsuit that alleged that company did not provide the required 3.2 nursing hours per day, per patient. [More]
Study: American Express Has Most Obtuse Penalty APR Polices
By 7.7.10
If you’re gonna get kicked in the pants, wouldn’t you at least like to know why? Well, American Express is the least clear in how they communicate their penalty interest rate policies, a new Card Hub survey finds. [More]
DOT Lacks Power To Ban Peanuts From Flights
By 7.7.10
Just when it looked like all the crusaders who want to get peanuts banned from flights were inching closer to epic victory, along comes a federal law to crack their shells. [More]
Woman Sues Movie Theater After Being Arrested For Filming Twilight Scenes
By 7.6.10
A woman who was arrested last November during a screening of whatever Twilight movie was in theaters at the time has filed suit against the movie chain. She says that she only filmed two short sequences, the opening credits and a moment when her “favorite actor” took off his shirt. Wisely, she does not say in her lawsuit whether she’s Team Beefcake or Team Emo, or my niece would possibly go ballistic. [More]
Internet Sales Tax Bill Introduced Again
By 7.6.10
Last week, Massachusetts Rep. Bill Delahunt introduced a bill called the “Main Street Fairness Act,” which is a stupid name for a bill. The text of the bill hasn’t been released yet, but if passed, it would presumably set up a process where sales tax could be collected on purchases made over the Internet. As anyone who has shopped online over the past decade is probably aware, this has been an ongoing and thorny issue, since billions in online sales tax would provide a welcome revenue stream for struggling states. [More]
Man Says Yoo-hoo's 'Good For You' Promise Is False Advertising
By 7.6.10
A Brooklyn man is suing the makers of Yoo-hoo, the weird chocolate-flavored drink that’s been around for 90 years, over their claims that the drink is as healthy as it is delicious. Although actually, if the company would change its description to “as healthy as it is delicious,” they’d probably be able to avoid all lawsuits: “Look, we told you it wasn’t healthy.” [More]
BP Spill Now Spoiling All Gulf States As Tar Balls Hit Texas
By 7.6.10
Congratulations to BP and all the others responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. You’ve officially managed to screw up every U.S. state along the Gulf of Mexico. Texas had been the only of the five states bordering the greasy body of water to be untainted by the spill, but that changed over the weekend when the first batch of tar balls washed up on the shore of the Lone Star State. [More]
Good News, Philly — Your Rabid Groundhog Is With Satan Now
By 7.5.10
Last month Eliza told us about a rabid groundhog that was stalking the streets of Philadelphia. She called multiple government agencies, but none of them would do anything about it. It took a vigilante to set things right and defeat the crazed beast. [More]
Know Your State's Fireworks Laws
By 7.4.10
How did America’s birthday become synonymous with blowing sh*t up? We assume it has something to do with Francis Scott Key — or maybe it’s just that a lot of people think blowing sh*t up is really, really cool. But you probably don’t want to spend July 4th in jail, so you may want to learn a little about the hodgepodge of state fireworks laws — or just skip the DIY stuff and let someone else burst their bombs. [More]
Toyota: Sorry We Made Your Soon-To-Be-Recalled Lexus Out Of Crap
By 7.3.10
Just kidding, they didn’t actually apologize. They did say that the new recalls are the result of small valve springs that were made from “low-quality” metal that could crack and cause the engine to stall. Whoops! [More]
Bully Landlord Tries To Steal Security Deposit
By 7.2.10
Sara thought she was being a good tenant. She moved cities and rather than pay the stiff penalties for breaking the lease, she continued to pay rent on the old place. She even turned off the electricity before she left. Ever since she told the old landlord she won’t be renewing the lease, he’s been going all aggro on her on the phone, demanding payments for electricity she didn’t use, insinuating she’s a criminal and is still living there, and generally being a jerk. Sara wants to extricate herself from his clutches but is afraid for her $700 security deposit. What can she do? [More]
Filibuster Scuttles Jobless Benefits Restoration For Third Time
By 7.2.10
Happy Fourth of July weekend! To help you celebrate Independence Day, which includes independence from the government dole, a Senate filibuster has successfully prevented unemployment benefits from being extended for 1.3 million out of work citizens. [More]
