An advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control has recommended that everyone get flu vaccinations from now on, not just people in special higher risk groups. According to WebMD, “the CDC almost certainly will make universal flu vaccination official U.S. policy for this fall’s 2010-2011 flu season, as it consistently follows the advice of the panel of outside experts.” [More]
Government Policy
Bernie Madoff's Daughter-In-Law No Longer Wants To Be A Madoff
By 2.25.10
What’s in a name? Just ask Stephanie Madoff, daughter-in-law to imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff. Seems like Stephanie is finding that the surname she took when she wed Bernie’s boy Mark isn’t just a badge of shame — it’s also a threat to her life. That’s why she has petitioned a Manhattan court for a name change. [More]
Toyota's Toyoda Tears Up After Testimony
By 2.25.10
While Toyota chief Akio Toyoda did his best to withstand over three hours of non-stop questioning in front of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform yesterday, he didn’t fare as well when he spoke in front of Toyota employees only a short while later. [More]
Street Vendors Protest Because They Would Rather Not Wet Themselves
By 2.25.10
Following the news earlier this week that a street food vendor in New York City had lost his permit because he left his hot nut cart unattended while he used a nearby restroom, several vendors gathered outside the City’s Dept. of Health offices yesterday in protest. [More]
America's Best Airports: Detroit, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul
By 2.24.10
J.D. Power and Associates has released rankings of U.S. airports based on a survey of 12,000 travelers last year, and Detroit’s decision to mesmerize travelers with colored light really paid off. You can check out the list here and sort the airports by overall satisfaction or by factors like the quality of check-in or baggage claim. [More]
Toyota Knew About Sticking Pedals In Europe A Year Before U.S. Accidents
By 2.24.10
Today’s Toyota hearings featured a lot of amusing defensive yelling by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and, of course, the long awaited testimony by Toyota President Akio Toyoda. In addition, Yoshimi Inaba, CEO of Toyota North America, revealed that the company knew of the sticking pedal issue in Europe a year before accidents in the US. [More]
NY AG Makes Toyota Come To Your House And Get The Damn Car
By 2.24.10
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today that his office had negotiated improved “accommodations” for owners of recalled Toyotas. In short, Toyota agreed to come to your house and get the car if you’re too freaked out to drive it. [More]
FBI Raids 3 Auto Parts Suppliers In Detroit As Part Of Anti-Trust Case
By 2.24.10
While the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform was busy raking Toyota’s chief executives over the coals in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Federal agents in Detroit were going all Untouchables-like at the offices of three auto parts suppliers, including one company owned in part by Toyota. [More]
Rhode Island High School Fires All 88 Teachers
By 2.24.10
Do you teach at Central Falls High? Not for long. You’ve all been fired. The school is one of the lowest performing in the state and apparently the teachers couldn’t come to an agreement about how much they should be paid to do something about it. [More]
Am I Going To Be Required To Get Government Health Care?
By 2.24.10
Every time the topic of national health care comes up, the prophets of doom put on their black cloaks and start their chants of “Big Brother,” “socialism” and “move to Finland,” painting a picture of a bleak, Orwellian future where baritone-voiced Death Panels decide your fate on a punch card that then gets sent through a pneumatic tube to the waiting Euthanasia Agent. But our smarter, better-looking kin over at Consumer Reports claim it’s not all that bleak. [More]
Senate Passes Jobs Bill, Crosses Fingers & Says A Prayer It Works
By 2.24.10
In a rare move of semi-solidarity, both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate approved a $15 billion initiative intended to spur job creation and growth. Of course, that amount is still $5 billion less than the total amount of bonuses doled out by Wall Street banks last year. [More]
Low Interest Rate Party To Continue For An Extended Period
By 2.24.10
Fed Chairman and former South Of The Border employee, Ben Bernanke, says these historically low interest rates will continue… but not forever. [More]
Anthem Blue Cross "Wasting Time" Waiting To Raise Your Rates
By 2.24.10
Last night, the selfless executives of California insurance behemoth Anthem Blue Cross (and parent company WellPoint) took time away from their usual Tuesday evenings volunteering at the soup kitchen to appear before those pesky members of the State’s government who just won’t stop harping about Anthem’s plans to raise rates on individual policy holders as much as 39%. Anthem’s answer: Let’s stop all this nonsense and just raise rates already! [More]
NYC Turns Shrink Ray On Parades, Reduces Fun By 25%
By 2.24.10
New York is a big city with a lot of people, each of whom seems to get a parade of his or her own at some point during the year (usually the day I need to get across town in a hurry). But the NYPD has just thrown a dagger into the heart of this float-loving metropolis with their announcement that all parades — yes, even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day thingy — will now be 25% shorter. [More]
DMV Staffers Made $1 Million Selling Fake IDs To Criminals, Sex Offenders, Undercover Cop
By 2.24.10
It’s bad enough that so many of the people at the Department of Motor Vehicles treat you like so much gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe, now comes a report that a handful of DMV employees in New York have been getting rich selling fake ID — not to minors trying to score beer or get into R-rated movies — to convicted felons, sex offenders and just about anyone who could come up with the cash. [More]
VIDEO: Owner Describes Surviving Out Of Control Lexus
By 2.23.10
During today’s House Committee on Energy & Commerce hearing on the Toyota recall debacle, Congress heard from Rhonda Smith, a former Lexus owner who detailed her 2006 brush with death — and the even more horrid tale of her repeated attempts to get either Toyota or NHTSA to listen to her. Perhaps most chilling, Rhonda even tried to put the car in neutral while hurtling down the road, but not even that could stop the “possessed” Lexus. [More]
BoingBoing Beats MagicJack Lawsuit, Wins $50,000
By 2.23.10
MagicJack sued BoingBoing for defamation after they had the gall to criticize the gadget maker’s EULA, and the blog has won, to the tune of $50,000. [More]
Bankers Back To Congratulating Themselves, Bonuses Up 17%
By 2.23.10
In these tough times, it’s easy to forget about the struggling bankers out there as you dodge their SUVs on your walk to the unemployment office. So it’s a good thing they have someone looking out for their financial interests — themselves. [More]
