“Nobody expects the U.S. Census! Our chief weapon is surprise!” A Seattle blogger posted a photograph of a fortune she received in her fortune cookie recently, and it looks like the Census is using surprise fear and surprise surprise, fear, and a ruthless efficiency to remind people to send back their forms. Oh, and they’re ruining fortune cookies. I fully expect to be forced into a comfy chair soon, which all in all isn’t a bad way to be tortured, so meh. [More]
Government Policy
The Census Is Getting Weird With Its Marketing
By 3.30.10
Investigation Reveals Widespread Fraud In Seafood Packaging
By 3.30.10
It’s a common, legal practice to protect seafood with a layer of ice before packaging it up for retail sale. It’s also apparently a common practice to add that ice into the total weight of the seafood, and in some cases to add more ice than necessary just to bump up the total weight, which isn’t legal and which defrauds the consumer. The National Conference on Weights and Measures recently investigated seafood packaging in 17 states and pulled more than 21,000 packages of seafood from store shelves, noting that in one particularly bad case ice made up 40% of the total listed weight. [More]
Judge Says You Can't Patent Human Genes
By 3.30.10
A judge just invalidated the patents on two human genes whose mutations have been linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The genes were isolated by a biotech firm called Myriad Genetics, which argued that because it figured out how to isolate the genes outside of the human body then they were patentable. The judge called that “a ‘lawyer’s trick’ that circumvents the prohibition on the direct patenting of the DNA in our bodies.” The company sells a $3,000 cancer screening kit and has maintained a monopoly on the test because of the patents. [More]
Sorry, No Jet Lag Drug For You
By 3.30.10
The FDA has declined to approve an application for use of an alertness drug, Nuvigil, to treat jet lag. [More]
Mastercard Spent $960,000 In Q4 To Lobby Congress
By 3.30.10
Kaching, kaching, that’s the sound of Mastercard’s lobbyist’s coffers engorging. The credit card company spent nearly a million dollars in the 4th quarter to lobby Congress critters. By comparison, they spent only $680,000 in the 3rd quarter, and $510,000 in Q4 2008. Among the issues of keen interest to the big orange and yellow interlocking circle: overdraft fees, banking reform, interchange fees, issuer practices, and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The good thing about being Mastercard is that you can just charge all your lobbying expenditures.
MasterCard spends $960,000 in 4Q to lobby Congress [AP via LowCards]
Not Signing Your Name & 9 Other Common Tax-Filing Mistakes
By 3.29.10
It would be generous to describe tax forms as daunting. Even the 1040-EZ looks significantly more complicated than it actually is. And, while you’re worrying about exemptions and deductions, you might forget to do something as simple as sign your name. That’s why the folks at USA Today put together this list of 10 common mistakes you should be aware of when filing. [More]
Man Files $530K Lawsuit Against Neighbor For Using WiFi, iPhone, Dimmer Switches
By 3.29.10
Beware your home electronics — your phones, wireless routers, even your dimmer switches — because they might be making your neighbor ill. Or at least that’s what one man in New Mexico is saying in a lawsuit against a technology-loving former friend. [More]
Government Mortgage Relief Plan May Buoy Underwater Homeowners
By 3.26.10
A new program announced by the Obama Administration today could help homeowners whose homes have declined in value by offering new government-backed loans and getting lenders to reduce the principal owed on homes whose values have fallen by at least 15%. The catch? Investors who own existing mortgages won’t be forced to participate in the new, voluntary program. [More]
Congressional Audit Shows That EnergyStar Label May Be Meaningless
By 3.26.10
Does an EnergyStar label change your perception of a product? Maybe it shouldn’t. Last year, an audit showed that Energy Star gave its rating to products that misrepresented their energy usage. This time, auditors posed as companies and submitted completely absurd appliances for EnergyStar ratings, like a gasoline-powered alarm clock the size of a portable generator, and a space heater with a feather duster on top claiming to be an “air purifier.” Is the study meaningless because no actual products were sold, or a warning that the program is sloppy and susceptible to fraud? [More]
Lawyers Begin Scrambling For Position In Toyota Lawsuits
By 3.26.10
More than 100 lawyers from all around the country packed into a San Diego courtroom yesterday in an attempt to stake their claim to the lion’s share of any settlements that come from the multitude of federal lawsuits filed against Toyota in recent weeks. [More]
POLL: Should Tanning Beds Require Parental Consent?
By 3.26.10
Yesterday, a Food & Drug Administration advisory panel suggested that the FDA begin making it a requirement for children and teenagers who want to get a golden glow from a tanning bed that they must first obtain parental consent on a form documenting that the parents are aware of the potential hazards of tanning. Since I get my sun the natural way — from the backlit screen of my laptop — I’d like to know from y’all whether you think this is a sensible idea that will help prevent skin disease and cancer in the long run or if it’s just more mandated mollycoddling… [More]
Cellphone User Sues Movie Theater After Arm Rest Hits Her Head
By 3.26.10
A woman who was hunched over chatting on her cellphone “discreetly” says the movie theater she was in is negligent because an arm rest fell down and smacked her in the head. [More]
ConEd To Raise Electric Rates 12.6% Over 3 Years
By 3.26.10
As the slumbering economy forces more people to think of ways to save money, the basic costs of living continue to increase. Case in point: Con Edison is set to jack up rates for electricity to millions of customers in the New York City metro area. [More]
Man Sues GameStop For Deceptive Used Game Sales
By 3.26.10
A California man is suing GameStop because he bought a used game that lacked a valid code he needed to download contest promised on the cover of the box, IGN reports. [More]
Computer Hacking ID Thief Gets 20-Year Prison Term
By 3.26.10
A federal court in Boston has sentenced Albert Gonzalez, the Miami computer hacker behind millions of dollars in credit card theft from national retailers like TJ Maxx, BJs, Barnes & Noble and more, to 20 years in prison for his crimes. [More]
Car Warranty Robocallers Banned From Telemarketing, Will Pay $665,000
By 3.25.10
The FTC says that the person behind a deceptive robocalling operation that allegedly used prerecorded messages to “fraudulently pitch extended auto warranties to U.S. consumers” will have to pay $655,000 as well as “turn over the proceeds from the sale of his second home in Florida and two luxury cars, a Porsche 911 and a Lexus sedan.” [More]
FTC Catches 30% Of Funeral Homes Violating Consumer Laws
By 3.25.10
Thanks to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers have certain rights when it comes to funerals. Consumers have the right to purchase only the products or services they need, to use the services of a funeral home while declining embalming, to see written price lists before they begin to make decisions, and the right to purchase a casket or urn elsewhere. An undercover FTC investigation, however, discovered that in 30% of the funeral homes they visited, at least one part of the Funeral Rule of 1984 was violated. [More]
Recalled Baby Gates Failed To Prevent Plummeting Babies
By 3.25.10
Evenflo Top-of-Stairâ„¢ Plus Wood Gates are supposed to stop your baby from plummeting down the stairs. Unfortunately, they do not do this, so they have been recalled. [More]
