Consumer News & Alerts

September 18, 2006

CRUISING RIGHT ALONG
Most religions credit their God with creating the earth and all that walks, crawls and slithers along on it. Not Scientologists. They believe that an evil empire shipped its dissidents off to the earth, blew them up in volcanoes, captured their souls and ... well, you get the idea. But it's many dollars later before adherents can get the gory details, as Tom Glaister reports in this week's cover story, Scientology Cruises Along.

WHAT WOULD POPEYE SAY?
Not too long ago, the biggest problem with fresh vegetables was that rabbits might get into the garden. Now health threats can come from almost anywhere on earth. Latest example: A California company that sells bagged spinach under the Dole, Trader Joe's and Earthbound Farm brand names, among others, is being pegged as the source of a dangerous E. coli outbreak. Natural Selection Foods has recalled all of its fresh spinach products, along with packaged salads containing spinach. It's another good argument for hunting up your local farmer's market.

MORE "DEAD RISING" FATALITIES
There's a rising chorus of complaints from computer gamers about Microsoft's Xbox 360's behavior when confronted with the graphic zombie game known as "Dead Rising." When faced with legions of zombies, Xbox tends to, well, drop dead. The game is published by Capcom, whose vice president, Charles Bellfield, says a hardware problem in the Xbox is to blame. Microsoft's high-priced D.C. publicist, who thinks so highly of his employer that he demands anonymity, says Capcom is to blame. Frankly, someone is lying. Who do you think it is?

Publicist twerps have figured out that readers don't like to see reporters using anonymous sources in their stories. So they've adopted the brilliant strategy of refusing to identify themselves. Can you think of anything more arrogant, ignorant and downright laughable than a spokesman who demands his, her or its name not be used? Large companies have no idea how badly they are being served by what pass for p.r. firms these days.

WE'RE NO. 16!
OK, so it's not No. 1 but at least the United States of America is in the top 20 when it comes to deploying broadband access. Why, in most major cities there are two -- sometimes three! -- telephone and cable companies offering high-speed Internet connections. In rural areas, of course, there are none, which leaves about 25 percent of the population doomed to dial-up. You can thank the telco-controlled Congress for this dismal display.

AT&T Tightens the Noose There's been a little dust-up lately around the subject of "net neutrality." Most folks don't know quite what's involved and AT&T, which wrote the book on corporate doublespeak, is taking advantage of that to trumpet what it calls a new service -- TV over the Web. Of course, it's really a Trojan Horse, a way to start charging for an extra tier of service that provides something you could otherwise get for free.

If an independent Congress is ever elected, it should vow that henceforward, AT&T Chairman Ed Whitacre and the others who own the pipes, as he so elegantly puts it, should not be allowed to own content. It's the only way to get the camel's noose (and the rest of its anatomy) out of the tent.

FOR SALE: YOUR HEALTH CARE RECORDS
Computerizing medical records offers several important benefits, including the ability to measure the outcomes of various treatment methods, not to mention improved efficiency and, maybe, reduced errors. But a new report warns that health-care data is being extensively traded and resold for other purposes. Even worse, there are gaps in the laws designed to govern and restrict the trading of personal information.

Data Breaches: How Bad Are They? So, are data breaches dangerous or not? Depends who you ask, as a couple of recent studies demonstrate. One study claims that data breaches shouldn't always be reported if they aren't dangerous, while another claims that many dangerous data breaches go unreported because businesses don't have the resources or means to successfully identify them all. Either way, most consumer advocates agree that consumers should at least be notified when their private data is lost, stolen, given away or sold. Your friends in Congress are preparing to outlaw state laws which require such notification.

Xanga.com Fined for Children's Privacy Violations The social networking site has been hit with a $1 million fine. Xanga collected personal information from children under the age of 13 without first notifying parents and obtaining their consent, the feds charged. It's the largest such fine ever.

HUNTER-GATHERERS IN ACTION
What's in your wallet? Capital One already knows. The voracious credit card bank is constantly prowling around the credit bureaus, keeping track of each and every one of us, so that it can fine-tune its continuing barrage of unsolicited offers. But what about all those credit inquiries from Cap One? Do they hurt your credit rating? Our Martin H. Bosworth has the answer.

Just Charge It Wal-Mart has killed off one of the last left-overs of the delayed gratification era, its layaway program. Sound quaint? And so it was. A shopper who didn't have enough loose change to buy a particular item could put it "on layaway." The store would keep the item for a certain amount of time until the shopper returned to redeem it. Most stores charged only a minimal service charge, instead of the ruinous 29.9% now permitted by Delaware, South Dakota and other darlings of the banking industry. Kmart, by the way, says it has no plans to eliminate its layaway program, so you can stock up on those Martha Stewart glass-top patio tables.

FORD PUTS THE HAMMER DOWN
With young Bill Ford out of the driver's seat, Ford Motor Co. says it will be quick off the line with exciting new products that its customers will race to purchase. Oh, and also it will ask all of its employees to tender their resignations, close even more plants and squeeze its suppliers even more tightly. It had better work. Ford is coming up fast behind GM in the race for the biggest-loss-ever record as it enters the straightaway and closes in on the $9 billion mark.

Feds Order Stability Control The auto industry could use a little stability but what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has in mind is electronic stability control, a very handy lifesaver that can keep cars and SUVs from going out of control and overturning. By 2012, it will be standard on all vehicles, NHTSA has decreed. Ford was, for once, a car-length or so ahead of the game. It announced it would make stability control standard on all of its vehicles by 2009.

A Different Kind of Hybrid BMW says it will build 100 of its high-end 7-Series cars with an option allowing them to burn both gas and hydrogen. The cars will only be available in areas where hydrogen refueling stations are available.

A Tiger in GOP's Tank Nothing much has changed in the physical world, so why have gas prices suddenly started going down? Our Joe Benton, a longtime Washington observer, posits the theory that Big Oil is panicked at the prospect of big GOP losses in the midterm elections and is, like krewe members at Mardi Gras, throwing a few beads to the natives, hoping to put them in a festive mood until First Tuesday's over and things get back to normal.

WHISTLEBLOWER BLASTS VIOXX REPLACEMENT
David Graham is the opposite of the corporate and governmental mouthpieces who want the money and the power but don't want to put their name on their assertions. He's the FDA whistleblower who risked his reputation and livelihood to expose the dangers of Vioxx. Now, says Graham, Merck & Co.'s proposed replacement painkiller, Arcoxia, may be just as risky.

Green Tea May Help Your Heart
Japanese who drink more green tea have a lower death rate from heart disease, a new study finds. Just last month, a European study found that drinking tea is a healthier choice than almost any beverage, including pure water.

Then There's Vitamin D A study finds that Vitamin D tablets cut the risk of pancreative cancer in half. That's important because, say Harvard and Northwestern University researchers, not only is pancreatic cancer usually fatal, there is no effective screening for it, so anything that reduces the risk is valuable.

Non-Profit Hospitals Fleece Uninsured Patients A Senate investigation finds widespread abuses among non-profits.

Parents take note ...

No Folic Acid-Miscarriage Link A study in China finds no increased risk of miscarriage associated with folic acid, our Dr. Henry Fishman reports. That's good, because millions of women take folic acid to help prevent birth defects, like problems with the neural tube or spinal canal. Earlier studies had raised the possibility of possible risks but a large study found no correlation.

• Peanut Allergy May Fade with Time Good news. Contrary to accepted wisdom, a study finds the stubborn and dangerous peanut allergy may lessen in some patients over time.

• Doctors Want Children Banned from ATVs A study in St. Louis finds such a high incidence of serious injury and death among young riders that pediatricians say the only solution is to keep kids off the three- and four-wheeled monsters.

• Good Reasons to Wear a Bike Helmet Study confirms bicycle helmets prevent serious head and brain injury.

• Pacifier Overuse Can Lead to Ear Infections Parents should limit use of pacifiers and wean children after 10 months.

• Slim Progress in Fighting Childhood Obesity The food industry won't take responsibility for reducing obesity in children and Congress certainly won't do anything about it. That means parents need to start demanding action.

SCAMS & OUTRAGES

• Magnetic Bedding Instead of relief from ailments, consumers get expense and aggravation.

• Child Porn Girls Gone Wild fined $2 million for exploiting its subject. It had earlier paid $1 million fine for exploiting its customers.

• Elder Abuse Pennsylvania charges hearing aid vendor with exploiting the elderly.

• Webloyalty "Reservation Rewards" and other "affinity" programs charge consumers' credit cards without their knowledge, suit charges.

• Magazine Peddler Direct Sales International to pay $7 million.

• "Debt Settlement" Debtxs' fees were misleading and sometimes deceptive, Texas charged.

RECALLS

SENIOR SCAM DVDs
Thanks to everyone who ordered the Senior Scam DVDs. We received many more orders than anticipated but will be filling all of them as soon as the duplicator coughs up the DVDs, which should be sometime soon.

Next week ... The Truth About Air Bags We'll have the results of a five-month ConsumerAffairs.com investigation into air bag failures. Stay tuned.

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