Facebook is now ten years old. In this thought-provoking piece in the Washington Post, Michael Zimmer, who is an assistant professor at the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and is the director of the Center for Information Policy Research, reviews Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's views over the past ten […]
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After protracted negotiations, the Post reports, the House and Senate have agreed on a farm bill that appears headed for passage and the President's signature. One of the key sticking points was how much to cut from the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. The House sought $40 billion in cuts […]
by Brian Wolfman We've told you before about the huge reductions in on-the-road deaths caused by various forms of vehicle safety regulations. And we heard just yesterday about the latest vehicle safety rule-in-the-making–not many years away–being pushed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA): cars talking to each other to avoid crashes. But seat […]
Most smokers start as kids. The FDA wanted the tobacco companies to put gruesome pictures illustrating the health hazards of smoking on all tobacco packages, but the First Amendment got in the way. So, now, according to this AP story, the FDA is running its own ad campaign to warn teens against smoking. Here's an […]
On February 17, Farmed and Dangerous — Chipotle's four-part comedic, but serious series on corporate farming — begins airing on Hulu. Watch the hilarious trailer here or by clicking on the embedded video below. We posted earlier on Chipotle's unusual and evocative video about the treatment of animals in large-scale farming.
Well, so do some consumers, whose federal antitrust suit against the dominant provider of Internet service on commercial airlines — Gogo, Inc. — has survived a motion to dismiss. Go here for a description of the case and the court's decision denying Gogo's motion to dismiss. The case is pending before federal district judge Edward […]
The folks at EcoNews are reporting on the latest climate change data from NASA. Click here or on the embedded vido below to view a 15-second NASA time-lapse video that depicts the warming of the planet since 1950. Note that parts of the Arctic and Siberia have warmed as much as two to four degrees farenheit […]
The National Consumer Law Center has issued Tax-time consumer troubles, which warns consumers about a host of problems that they may encounter from largely worthless (but expensive) refund-anticipation products and from abuse and incompetence in the tax-preparation industry. We posted last December on NCLC's comprehensive report on that industry, which included specific proposals for reform.
A bit over a year ago, I discussed on this blog a petition that we filed in the Virginia Supreme Court seeking to set aside a preliminary injunction issued by a state trial judge in a defamation suit filed by a Maryland contractor, Christopher Dietz, against a Virginia woman, Jane Perez, who had posted reviews […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau brought an administrative enforcement action yesterday against morgage originator giant PHH Corporation alleging, among other things, violations of the anti-kickback provisions of The Real Estate Settlements Procedures Act (RESPA). To quote the agency's press release: Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) initiated an administrative proceeding against PHH Corporation and […]