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Thieves stole all the roses—400 of them—from an Ohio florist yesterday, as well as the vases, the decorations, and the computer. [Associated Press] (Photo: tillwe)
Government Policy
Missing iPhone Back In Reader's Hands
By 2.14.09
Got the iPhone back now and went to the AT&T store and now activating it via iTunes. Phone seems to be working just the pictures in the camera roll were deleted along with recent calls.
Judges Sent Hundreds Of Teens To Private Detention Centers In Exchange For Millions
By 2.14.09
Two Pennsylvania judges were sued in federal court this past week for allegedly taking $2.6 million in kickbacks from private juvenile detention facilities. In exchange, they sentenced hundreds of youths to the centers over the past 5 years. One of the judges, Mark Ciavarella, sent 1 out of 4 defendants to the centers, compared to a statewide rate of 1 in 10.
Missing iPhone Mystery Solved By Consumerist Readers In 55 Minutes
By 2.13.09
Wow, that was impressive! In less than one hour after we posted about Dino’s dad’s lost iPhone, Consumerist readers were able to locate his Facebook and Hi5 accounts, track down his name and home address, and even get him to respond via email—something Dino and his dad weren’t able to do yesterday. Dino just wrote us and said “Michael Smith/Emerson” contacted him and promised to return the phone tomorrow.
Update: the phone has been returned!
Peanut Corp Has Gone Out Of Business
By 2.13.09
It was bound to happen, and it looks like it just did: Peanut Corporation of America has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and will liquidate its assets to pay off creditors.
Search For All Recalled Peanut Butter Products With This Widget
By 2.13.09
Here’s a handy widget, courtesy of the FDA, that you can use to determine whether or not your Valentine’s Day goodies are a trap set by an angry lover.
FDA Forces Pharma Company To Admit That Its Birth Control Pill Isn't Miraculous
By 2.13.09
Bayer, the company that makes the popular birth control pill, Yaz, is being forced to run ads that “correct” some of the claims that it made in commercials touting the pill’s “proven” ability to rid women of acne and PMS. The company settled with the FDA, promising to spend $20 million on the corrections, warning women that they shouldn’t take Yaz hoping to cure their pimples and irritability.
Subscriber Sues Comcast For Requiring Customers To Rent Cable Boxes
By 2.13.09
Hate renting set-top boxes from Comcast? So does one San Francisco Comcast subscriber. He’s suing, claiming that the rental fees are far in excess of what the boxes would be worth on the open market.
Peanut Corp: "Don't Like Salmonella PB? Try Our New Dead Rat And Feathers Flavor"
By 2.13.09
On Thursday, Texas ordered the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) to recall all products shipped from its plant in Plainview, Texas. The order came after Texas Department of State Health Services discovered dead rats, rat droppings, and bird feathers in a crawl space that was connected to the plant’s ventilation system.
Nationwide Insurance Class Action Settlement Proposed
By 2.12.09
A settlement has been proposed in a class action against Nationwide Insurance. The suit says Nationwide should pay for both the car’s repair and depreciated value for policyholders hit by underinsured drivers or involved in hit-and-run accidents. For those who qualify and file, it could mean thousands.
Thefts At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Have Doubled Since 2003
By 2.12.09
If you’re looking to start or end a vacation with having something stolen from your luggage, D/FW Airport is a good place to go. At least that’s the impression you get when you look at the rising number of reported thefts over the past 5 years.
Chicago Considering A Partial Ban On Bisphenol-A Products
By 2.12.09
Chicago might become the first place in the United States to partially ban the sale of products that contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), the chemical that some studies have shown may have harmful effects on humans. They’re proposing to forbid the sale of any BPA product intended for children. Canada banned the chemical last year, but the FDA has so far come down on the side of manufacturers.
DSW's Dirty Trick Backfires; Now Customer Has Free Shoes
By 2.11.09
DSW is playing dirty with Brook, who tried to legitimately order two pairs of shoes on January 30th. Due to an error on DSW’s side, the order was never fulfilled. He called and resolved the problem and they re-processed the order, but a few days later DSW decided to send the order a second time, and this time they jacked up the price by $20. They won’t let him cancel the order and say they’ll only refund the smaller of the two amounts if he returns it. Surprise, DSW! According to the FTC, you just sent Brook some free shoes.
Survey: Politicians Pretty Much Suck At Paying Taxes
By 2.11.09
Following up on the multiple Obama nominees who’ve had tax troubles, Politico asked the 99 members of the Senate whether they’ve ever had mistakes on their tax returns or filed back taxes. Yes and yes.
Qchex Shut Down, Scammers Everywhere Weep
By 2.10.09
ArsTechnica reports that a judge has ordered Neovi, the company behind Qchex, to immediately stop offering their service, which allowed people to create and send checks drawn on any bank so long as they provided the account info. As you can imagine, this led to abuse by scammers who would use Qchex to create fraudulent checks.
FBI Raids Salmonella Peanut Butter Plant
By 2.10.09
FBI agents raided the Georgia plant suspected in the current salmonella peanut butter outbreak that has been linked to 600 illnesses and eight deaths in 43 states. The company is accused of knowingly shipping the tainted products.
Peanut Butter Sales Down 25% Over Salmonella Fears
By 2.10.09
Fears of salmonella have drive down sales of peanut butter 25%, far beyond the actual amount of peanut butter affected by the recall. Guess few people actually read the recall notices to see which products and batch numbers are pulled, they just see Peanuts + Butter = Death. [NYT] (Photo: amyadoyzie)
Best Buy Employee Arrested For Stealing Credit Cards
By 2.10.09
Uh oh, another Best Buy employee has been caught swiping data from customers. Unlike the woman last August who went on small time shopping sprees, this woman was caught using a card reader to swipe and store info on as many as 4,000 customers at the Best Buy store located at 1880 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd in Palm Beach, Florida.
