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Consumer News & Alerts

August 20, 2007

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

THE FED'S NEXT MOVE
Political correctness is usually associated with liberals. But on the conservative side of the aisle, political correctness is interpreted as being against raising taxes and keeping hands off the financial markets. Of course, when the bottom falls out of the financial markets, political correctness goes out the window, as became evident Friday when the Federal Reserve voted to cut the "discount lending rate," a likely precursor to cutting the prime rate. After all, political correctness is one thing, but political suicide is another.

SOMETHING'S KILLING CATS -- WHO'S NEXT?
A mysterious thyroid disease is claiming the lives of pet cats across America, and a new report claims that dust shed from flame retardants in common household items may be the culprit. Worse, the disease outbreak among the cats may be connected to increased cases of hyperthyroidism among humans. Although more research is needed, the initial investigation points to the cat deaths being the "canaries in the cage," alerting us to a bigger problem.

CAT OWNER WANTS ANSWERS
Did the Food & Drug Administration ignore other sources of contamination in pet food besides melamine from Chinese companies, and destroy evidence that would have contradicted its claim? That's what Don Earl wants to know, and he's filed a legal action against the FDA demanding they stop destroying tainted pet food samples, and investigate other possible toxins as the culprit in the massive pet food recall earlier this year. Earl's own investigation turned up numerous chemicals in pet food that may have killed his pet and many others -- but no trace of melamine, despite the FDA's claims to the contrary.

More Pet News...

• Kentucky Breeder Challenges Purina Over Dog Deaths Kentucky woman believes chemicals in pet food may have caused mysterious deaths of her prized dogs.

MATTEL DOES IT AGAIN
Once again, Mattel is recalling millions of toys made in China. The latest recall comes less than two weeks after a previous recall. The culprit this time is lead paint and small magnets, both of which can be fatal to children if swallowed. And while Mattel execs desperately try to play spin control, the shame of the repeated recalls was enough to make Cheung Shu-hung, the owner of the company that made the recalled Sesame Street toys, take his own life.

Also of interest to parents ...

• FDA Investigates Cough Medicine For Children Under Two Agency says that some over-the-counter medications may not be safe for use.

• Southwest Airlines Tests "Family" Boarding Plans Plans to improve efficiency and cut down on problems caused by rambunctious kids.

LIMBAUGH ON THE TAKE?
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader wants the FCC to investigate a new General Motors initiative of lending trucks to high-level talk radio jocks and inviting them to Detroit for special tours. Nader alleges that GM is looking for on-air endorsements in exchange for the special treatment, and claims the deal smacks of payola. Not surprisingly, GM claims its actions are completely above board. Rush Limbaugh and other radio hotheads haven't commented.

More Automotive News...

• Gas Prices Continue Slow Decline National average for regular self-serve gas holding at $2.76.

• BMW Series 5 Flunks Impact Test Kia Amanti, Volvo S80, and Acura RL all receive high marks for crash safety.

• NHTSA Warns Drivers To Check Tire Pressure Hot weather and under-inflated tires can make for a dangerous combination.

LITTLE BIT OF EXERCISE CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
Getting motivated to do even the tiniest bit of exercise is a challenge for many, but even those tiny bits of exercise can add up to better health and weight loss in the long run. The authors of a new health report that boosting regular exercise regimens even slightly leads to lower blood pressure and smaller waist sizes, which can substantially reduce an individual's risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

More Health News...

• Pot Belly A Warning Sign Of Heart Disease Even a few extra inches in the midsection can lead to big problems.

• Diabetes Drugs Get "Black Box" Warnings New warnings will alert users to risks of heart failure from drugs.

• Scientists Discover Gene To Possibly "Turn Off" Cancer Discovery may be "Holy Grail" of cancer prevention research.

HOME SALES SLUMP ENDING?
Despite continuing price tumbles and slow sales across the country, the National Association of Realtors is reporting that some local markets are actually bottoming out, with price and sales spikes in the Midwest helping to stabilize the overall sag of the real estate market.

SPY COURT TELLS WHITE HOUSE TO FESS UP
The high-level intelligence court that's now in charge of the Bush administration's controversial wiretapping program says that the White House has to provide court orders to the ACLU proving the need for the surveillance. Although Congress rolled over and passed a temporary legalization of the surveillance program in order to get to their summer vacations faster, the ACLU continues to press ahead with lawsuits challenging the program as unconstitutional, invasive, and illegal.

MAJOR RECALLS

• Nokia Recalls 46 Million Cellphone Batteries Lithium-ion batteries may cause a fire hazard.

• Clarion Recalls 1500 More Navigation Units Another lithium fire hazard already forced recall of 2500 units.

• Gilchrest & Soames Recalls Hotel Toothpaste Indianapolis company recalls Chinese-manufactured toothpaste due to poisonous chemicals in samples.

SCAMS & OUTRAGES

• PayPal Funding Freezes Bedevil Users Buyers and sellers complain of lost funds due to "fraud investigations."

• Norovirus Plagues Tourists At Dominican Resort 2,000 guests slammed with food poisoning, and the cause remains unknown.

• Pfizer Reports Second Data Breach In Two Months Thieves steal laptops containing sensitive personal information from employee's car.

• Whose Fingers Are Doing The Walking? Shady companies use Yellow Page billing scam to bilk businesses for ads they don't want.

• "Work At Home" Scams Continue To Spread Easy ways to make money are anything but, and often end up costing you in the long run.

SUMMER BREAK
August is supposed to be the month that things slow down, so we thought it would be a good time to make a few changes. For starters, we moved our East Coast servers to a new data center that we hope will be more reliable than our previous undisclosed location. The move went about as well as could be expected. 'Nuff said about that. We're about to crank up a much-improved "print/email this page" program and, starting with this newsletter, we're using a new distribution method that we hope will be a little more trouble-free.

Also this week, our editor in chief -- known fondly to so many of you as "your editor" -- slides aside to make room for Martin H. Bosworth, who will be taking over this newsletter. Your editor thought this would enable him to -- like Karl Rove -- spend more time with his family. He is still awaiting their response to this notion. We suspect Rove is doing the same.

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