Reader Geoff was at a gas station with his girlfriend when a shady looking dude approached them and started asking for money so he could pay someone to unlock his car and free the 11 month-old kid whom he’d locked inside… in a dark corner of the next parking lot over. Hm. Was he telling the truth? Geoff writes:
Dear Consumerist,
Since the study was published, Consumer Reports has come out in favor of older drugs:
Diabetes drugs received wide attention last spring when research found a possible link between rosiglitazone (Avandia) and a higher risk of heart attacks. While those risks remain unclear, the CR Best Buy Drug report cites other reasons that rosiglitazone and the related drug pioglitazone (Actos) are not wise first choices for most people with diabetes, including their higher risk of heart failure compared with other diabetes drugs.
Consumer Reports that patients should first ask their doctors about metformin (Glucophage and generic), claiming that the effectiveness of the older drugs are equivalent to the newer ones, but with less potential risk.
You win some, you lose some. Google’s bid to created an open wireless network was only partially sucessful today as the FCC rejected some of the search giant’s conditions, but adopted others.
Remember Lara, whose self-portrait was stolen from deviantART and used as the cover of a porn DVD? Yeah, she’s suing the shady pornographers.
Crissy received some txt message spam on her cellphone and was understandably annoyed because incoming txt messages are not included in her package with T-Mobile.
Remember when we said exports from countries not named China were also tainted and filthy? It turns out the exports aren’t as tainted and filthy as the New York Times originally reported. The Times explains that a “methodology problem was discovered” after the Danish Embassy complained that their candy was refused by FDA inspectors only 82 times, not 520, as the Times claimed. From the Gray Lady:
When the data was re-analyzed, it showed that the number of candy shipments rejected from Denmark had not been higher than the number of seafood shipments rejected from China, as the article stated. The number of shipments rejected from China was also misstated; it was 331, not 391.
A New Jersey man is suing Starbucks after sustaining 3rd degree burns from hot tea that he claims was improperly “lidded.” The man’s lawyer says, “when he went to pick up the cup, the top wasn’t on correctly. The top came off.
Don’t try to sue the Chinese Poison Train. It won’t work. American victims of tainted Chinese products have found it nearly impossible to litigate against companies based in China. There are roadblocks at every step in the process: Americans can only sue Chinese companies that do business in the U.S.; phantom companies that exist only on paper refuse to hand over key documents; and, even if a consumer can win a default judgment, no treaty compels China to respect rulings from U.S. courts. From the Washington Post:
According to the Washington Post, the United States and the European Union have agreed to compile and share a database of information on consumers who travel on aircrafts between the two continents.
Word on the street is that following negative stories in the LA Daily News, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Best Buy interrogated employees at the Santa Clarita store where former Geek Squad agent and Consumerist reader Brett Haddock used to work, and could be gearing up, or at least, wants people to think it’s gearing up, to seek damages against Geeks who spoke out about the porn pilfering.
Several loaves of bread manufactured by Sara Lee are being recalled because they are potentially full of small pieces of metal.
Botulism is an incredibly serious food-borne illness, and the Castleberry’s recall means we should remind ourselves of the symptoms. According to WebMD they are:
Remember the botulism recall? The infected cans are now exploding, according to the FDA.
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Crystal-decorated pacifiers (aspiration, ingestion), Toro electric blowers (projectiles).
Parties to a contract have no obligation to check the terms on a periodic basis to learn whether they have been changed by the other side. Indeed, a party can’t unilaterally change the terms of a contract; it must obtain the other party’s consent before doing so….
That certified organic edamame you bought from the local supermarket may have been made and packaged in China. The exporting juggernaut is quickly and quietly muscling in on the thriving global trade in certified organic products. Organic exports from China are certified by private companies and carry the official USDA organic logo. The logo, however, does not guarantee that products are truly organic:
Two days ago, Castleberry’s expanded the list of chilis and pet foods they were recalling due to possible botulism contamination. By now should have been enough time for retailers to comply, so let’s help them out.
Logan security remains high as terror concerns are raised [Boston Globe] (Thanks to Dork Esquire!)
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