Are you having beef for dinner? Do you know where it came from? No, not the grocery store down the street, but where the cow was raised? Most of us probably can’t answer those questions, and that’s a growing concern for health advocates, retailers, and lawmakers amid reports that some meatpackers in Brazil — one of the world’s largest exporters of beef — are shipping out rotten, salmonella-tainted beef. [More]
bans
Michigan Bans Local Governments From Banning Plastic Bags
By 12.30.16
While states like Hawaii and California have enacted bans on plastic bags, Michigan is going the exact opposite route, passing a law that bans local governments from banning plastic bags or putting fees on disposable containers. [More]
Tesla Can Continue Selling Cars Straight To Consumers In Indiana For At Least A Year
By 2.26.16
Electric car-seeking Indiana residents can still buy their new Tesla without having to go out of state, at least for the time being. State senators have tabled a bill that would have banned the carmaker from selling vehicles under its current, often controversial, straight-to-consumer business model. [More]
Mortgage Relief Scammers Ordered To Pay $5.4M
By 12.15.15
Eight months after federal regulators took action to stop a mortgage relief company from making hollow promises to homeowners facing foreclosure, the ringleaders behind the operation have agreed to pay more than $5.4 million in penalties and never work in the mortgage relief or telemarketing business again. [More]
American Medical Association Calls To Ban Ads For Prescription Drugs, Medical Devices
By 11.18.15
In the future when you tune in to watch the big game or your favorite primetime show there might be something missing during the commercial break: ads for prescription drugs and medical devices. The American Medical Association proposed a ban on such advertisements Tuesday, claiming the marketing may be driving consumer demand for unnecessary and expensive treatments. [More]
Telemarketers Took Millions From Senior Citizens In Medicare Card Scam
By 7.27.15
There’s now one less unsavory, immoral, disrespectful group scamming senior citizens of their savings, as federal regulators took action against the operators of a scheme in which telemarketers pretended to be Medicare representatives in order to bilk millions of dollars from older consumers. [More]
Dutch Prosecutors Open Criminal Investigation Into Uber Following Violations Of Banned Service
By 4.17.15
Uber’s latest hurdle to provide service in Europe, where many cities and countries have banned the ride-sharing service, comes in the form of a criminal investigation by Dutch prosecutors. [More]
Germany Bans Uber For Second Time, Fines Company $264,825 For Each Violation
By 3.18.15
Uber’s fight to transport customers in Germany hit yet another roadblock today as it was banned from operating within the country for the second time in 12 months. And this time, if the company breaks the imposed injunction, it can expect to pay a hefty to the tune of $264,825 per violation. [More]
Smithsonian Museums Ban Use Of Selfie Sticks, Still Encourage Selfies
By 3.4.15
When documenting a trip to the nation’s capital, tourists might enjoy having a few photographs of themselves against the backdrops of the memorials and monuments that fill the city. But if you were thinking of using a selfie stick to get just the right angle while posing in front of the Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum, you might want to think again. [More]
South Carolina Orders Uber To Cease Operations Until Proper Certificates Are In Place
By 1.16.15
The list of cities, states and countries that have ordered ride-sharing service Uber to halt operation in their area continues to grow. The latest service issue comes from South Carolina as the state’s Public Service Commission sent the company a directive to cease and desist service immediately. [More]
Doughnut Shop Bans “Rude” 4-Year-Old Boy For Asking Woman If She Was Pregnant
By 7.24.14
Little kids ask questions. Unfortunately, they don’t always realize that their questions may be insensitive or inappropriate. Lots of adults let kids slide for their occasionally tactless queries, but the mother of one 4-year-old says a local doughnut shop is taking a hard line regarding her son’s behavior. [More]
Long Island Mall Bans Elderly Mall-Walker For 6 Months
By 2.19.14
The menace of loitering senior citizens in the New York City metropolitan area continues. First, a McDonald’s in Queens kicked out a group of neighborhood seniors who used the restaurant as an all-day coffee house, and politicians brokered a peace. This time, a 73-year-old man who walked laps around a Long Island mall has been banned from the property for trespassing. [More]
Town Thinks Ban On Dogs Might Revitalize Business District
By 9.11.12
To some folks in Beaver Falls, PA., the sagging sales and foot traffic in the downtown business district isn’t a result of a depressed economy or consumers opting for online retailers and big box stores. No, it’s too many people walking their dogs down the sidewalk. So apparently the solution is to ban dogs from the area. [More]
No More Plastic Bags Anywhere In Hawaii
By 5.17.12
Quite a few municipalities have managed to ban the practice of giving out non-biodegradeable plastic bags at checkout, including three of Hawaii’s four counties. Last month, the Honolulu County Council passed its own ban, making Hawaii the first state where single-use plastic bags in stores are verboten. [More]
Video Game Emulators Vanish From Android Market
By 5.30.11
A number of hot-selling paid apps that let gamers play modified versions of old-school video games were yanked from the Android Marketplace. The vanished apps, which were presumably pulled due to intellectual property violations, allowed gamers to turn their phones into sketchy conduits to relive the magic of the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and other ancient consoles. [More]
Government Bans Drop-Side Rail Cribs
By 12.15.10
In order to prevent kids from dying, the government has issued a ban on selling or making traditional drop-side cribs. If the gate or slate on the side of the crib gets loose, a baby can fall in there and get trapped, eventually hanging themselves to death. [More]
Xbox Bans Man For Living In "Fort Gay." Except, That's Where He Lives.
By 9.8.10
UPDATE: Microsoft admitted they made a mistake and has updated their training policy.
Ok, now this is getting redonkulous. Xbox has been suspending gamers for some time for mentioning or otherwise referencing their sexual orientation in their gamer profiles, but now they’ve gone ahead and banned a guy because he said he lives in “Fort Gay.” Huh huh, Beavis indeed, but there is a real town called Fort Gay. It’s in West Virginia, and that’s where the guy really lives.
CPSC Votes To Ban Drop-Side Cribs, Pottery Barn Recalls 82,000 Of Them
By 7.14.10
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that due to 153 deaths in the last four years, they have voted (5-0) to ban drop-side cribs. [More]
