Ladies and Gentlemen… Boys and Girls… The final tally for lead recalls is in.
Government Policy
By 12.28.07
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The Gloucester County Toy Task Force spent two weeks checking 27 stores “including Target, Kmart, Big Lots and most discount stores” for recalled toys. None were found. That is all. [South Jersey News Online]
82-Year-Old Woman Sues Chase To Recover Life Savings
By 12.28.07
Chase is refusing to honor a cashiers check for $19.700.22, 82-year-old widow Willie Floyd’s life savings. Willie stored the check, originally drawn by her late-husband in 1985, in a $10 per year safe deposit box at the local bank. When she tried to shift the funds into a regular savings account last year, she was told that the check expired after five years, and that her life savings now belonged to the state.
A Big List Of Foods That You Can Bring Through Airport Security
By 12.28.07 — Updated: 6.27.16
The Transportation Security Administration is very clear on what types of foods you can and can not bring onto an airplane, but most people think that the “liquid” ban extends to cheeseburgers. Not so.
The TSA’s only restrictions are that any food items brought through security must be either be whole, natural foods (like an orange), or be in placed in a container or otherwise wrapped up. All food must be x-rayed.
Home Shopping Network Agrees To Pay $800k Civil Penalty
By 12.28.07
HSN has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $875,000, according to a CPSC press release, settling allegations that HSN “failed to report in a timely manner, as required by federal law, serious injuries and hazards with the Welbilt Electronic Pressure Cookers.” The CPSC alleged that from 2001 to 2004, HSN received “at least 25 reports” from consumers that the cooking appliance was potentially unsafe. (In 2005 the cookers were recalled.)
By 12.28.07
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Bayer is recalling certain diabetes test strips because they tend to over-report blood glucose level readings by 5 to 17 percent. Affected lots begin with WK7 and then either a D, E, F or G. All other lot numbers are fine and can be used. More information.
By 12.28.07
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Whole Foods has expanded last week’s recall of 365 Organic Everyday Value Chocolate Bars to include all 8 varieties, and expanded the Best If Used By date window to any date prior to 11/08/09, because of possible undeclared milk and tree nuts. [FDA]
Best Buy Refuses To Stop Misleading Customers With Secret Website
By 12.27.07
Once again a reader contacts us to complain about Best Buy misleading their customers with an in-store only website that looks identical to the “real” website—except for the prices.
CPSC Head Nancy Nord Officially Thanks Congress For Consumer Product Safety Vote
By 12.27.07
Last week, the House of Representatives voted 407-to-0 to approve a consumer product safety bill that greatly increases the scope and power of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Toy Industry Association Will Announce New Safety Plan In February
By 12.26.07
Well we’re glad that’s taken care of. Wait… the Toy Industry Association is a trade group, not a federal agency! At any rate, on February 1st the Toy Industry Association, a 500-member strong group, will “release a draft of tough new safety rules, which include a plan to require manufacturers to test toys for hazardous chemicals and defective designs.” According to CNN, the group is drafting the 3-point plan with at least the awareness, if not the help, of the CPSC, and it hopes to have the plan formally certified as the CPSC’s “new standard for toy safety.”
Crazy Realtor Torments Rival With Sex Ads
By 12.26.07
Well, this just further proves that real estate is the meanest profession. Dean “Cookie Kwan” Isenberg was arrested a week ago and charged with “posting fake escort ads on the Internet using a rival’s phone numbers, sparking hundreds of raunchy calls” and text messages to the woman and her daughter. The victim, Debbie Blasberg, was a former coworker of Isenberg’s who had “closed on a property he had been trying to sell.”
FCC Regulators Sing, Make Fun Of Our Woeful Unpreparedness For DTV Transition
By 12.26.07
Meet The Singing Regulators. Regular FCC employees by day, these mellifluous regulators spend their nights performing humorous sendups inspired by the Commission’s work. Their latest song pokes fun at the FCC‘s utter failure to prepare the nation for the planned February 2009 transition to digital television.
NJ Toy Inspectors Performing Spot-Checks At Retail Level
By 12.24.07
To pick up slack from the undersized/overwhelmed CPSC, states are stepping up to help increase toy safety locally. New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois and California have been taking “aggressive measures,” from suing manufacturers to escalating state recalls to the federal level. Newsday describes how New Jersey worked with charities and educators during toy drives to make them aware of recalled toys. The state also assigned 15 state inspectors to a toy safety task force, and over the past month, the inspectors “fanned out across the state with assistance from county health department workers to test products and check for recalled toys.
Chuck Norris: "I Can't Do All That Stuff"
By 12.24.07
Chuck Norris is suing publisher Penguin and author Ian Spector over the book “The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World’s Greatest Human”. Among other claims, the suit states that the “book’s title would mislead readers into thinking the facts were true.” This means that apparently Chuck Norris cannot cure your cancer with his tears, he did not create a giraffe by uppercutting a horse, and he cannot speak braille. If only Kevin Trudeau could be so honest.
Illinois AG (Still) Wants Ban On Magnets In Children's Products
By 12.24.07
Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan sent a second letter Friday to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urging a law banning magnets in children’s toys.
General Motors Recalls 313,000 Vehicles To Plug Fluid Leak
By 12.23.07
General Motors has recalled 313,000 vehicles over concerns that a fluid leak could send motorists sliding brake-lights first into hedges. The recall, however, won’t begin until February 2008.
TSA Declares Victory, Achieves Same Vaunted Status As IRS
By 12.23.07
The IRS is celebrating the results of an AP poll that ranks the TSA as the most hated arm of the federal government. More than anything, Americans apparently hate being inconvenienced by seemingly pointless and arbitrary security checks.
The AP poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday, found that the more people travel, the less they like TSA.
FDA Issues New Warnings Over Misuse Of Duragesic Patch
By 12.21.07
The FDA said today that a small number of preventable cases of accidental death have occurred since their first Duragesic warning in 2005, prompting them to ask Johnson & Johnson and the makers of a generic version to add new warnings. “Despite a July 2005 warning, the Food and Drug Administration ‘has continued to receive reports of deaths and life-threatening side effects after doctors have inappropriately prescribed the patch or patients have incorrectly used it,’ the agency said.”
