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Consumer News & Alerts

May 14, 2007

BUILDING A FIRE UNDER HONDA
For years, certain Honda CR-V and Element models have been prone to disastrous, fast-spreading engine fires. Honda has blamed mechanics for not properly installing the oil filter but a class action lawsuit accuses the automaker of deliberately concealing the real problem and failing to warn consumers. Who's telling the truth? Read more ...

A BLUE DAY FOR BLUEHIPPO
Having been kicked out of Congress, our Joe Enoch had time to team up with Washington's "Seven on Your Side" for a fresh look at BlueHippo Funding, the Baltimore company that snares low-income consumers into shockingly expensive rent-to-buy deals for computers and other electronic gadgetry. The timing was just right, as Maryland's attorney general had just reached a $1 million settlement with the company, which continued to protest its innocence.

Press Repression It's been said that freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one. Nowhere is this general principle more true than in the United States Congress, where a committee of reporters is in charge of doling out credentials to lowly mortals seeking to walk the marble halls. Our Joe Enoch was found lacking because of his association with us. The kangaroo court nature of this committee's most un-American activities is truly breathtaking. We'll have a lot more to say about it next week.

More 'Transparency' in Congress? Not coincidentally, as we were being barred from covering consumer legislation in Congress, a report was calling for greater access for bloggers and citizen journalists. We couldn't agree more. There are way too many accredited scribes from the major news organizations -- many of them covering the same formulaic stories -- and nearly none from new media, who might manage to throw a fresh light in certain darkly-lit corners. There's really no room for argument. The First Amendment means what it says and government can't legitimately choose which journalists it will allow to cover the public's business.

California Nixes Class Action Limits The Senate press committee seems to echo many of our critics in viewing consumer class actions as somehow subversive. It's OK for corporations to sue citizens but the right shouldn't be reciprocal, apparently. The California General Assembly disagrees and turned away a measure that would have limited consumer class actions.

MORE PET FOOD RECALLS
In the latest installment of the story that never ends, Royal Canin has recalled 15 varieties of pet food after tests revealed traces of a melamine derivative in the Chinese rice protein concentrate the company received from its supplier, Cereal Byproducts of Illinois.

At least the Chinese companies blamed for the pet poisonings have been closed down. When they finally got into the country, U.S. inspectors found the Chinese plants deserted -- stripped of equipment, fixtures and people. Just where everyone went is another question.

In other food safety developments ...

• Fish Were Fed Contaminated Feed Contaminant was in wheat flour, not gluten, inspectors say.

• Little Risk Seen to Humans from Tainted Animal Feed Quarantined chickens and pigs safe to eat, federal agencies say.

• USDA's Credentials Questioned Agency's "boosterism" makes it a bad choice for expanded safety role, critics assert.

• FDA is Broken, Former Chief Says Agency isn't able to guarantee a safe food supply, Congress is told.

LONG EXPENSIVE SUMMER
Nationwide, average gas prices have settled in above the $3 mark and are likely to remain there until mid-summer at the earliest, the feds warn. That, of course, assumes there are no hurricanes, earthquakes, refinery breakdowns or acts of war or unrest that interrupt supply and distribution.

The Senate has voted to require new cars and trucks to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. It's a noble goal but the automakers say it can't be done and environmentalists say that 2020 is not exactly next week. They think the process should be accelerated.

Hybrid Tax Credits Declining In the odd doublethink of Washington, federtal tax cuts have been so successful at encouraging consumers to buy fuel-saving hybrids that now the tax cuts are being reduced. It's only the least popular hybrids -- mostly domestics -- that are still being subsidized by taxpayers.

Katrina's Legacy Statistics never tell the whole story. We all know that tens of thousands of cars were flooded by Katrina and the other big storms that came ashore over the last few years. Many of those cars got dried off and sold as "like-new" creampuffs. One, a Ford van outfitted with a wheelchair lift, was sold to a Georgia family that's now stuck with a useless vehicle and a disabled child who, with no van, is stuck at home.

Seat Belt Enforcement In most states, you'll get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt only if you've already been pulled over for another offense (or if, like New Jersey's governor, you've been carried away from the scene). But a new study finds a lower injury rate in states that permit officers to pull over unbelted motorists -- so-called "primary" enforcement.

SENATORS TUNE IN
Internet radio may not be dead after all. A bipartisan bill in the Senate mirrors an effort in the House to create a more equitable royalty structure for Internet broadcasters. The measure would short-circuit an earlier ruling that online radio must pay royalty fees that in nearly every case far exceed the broadcasters' present or anticipated revenue.

REAL ID Revolt Thirty-three states are now complaining that the requirements of the REAL ID program are too expensive and create way too many privacy concerns. The program is one of the many post-9/11 efforts to nail down the identity of every living thing.

COUNT CALORIES, NOT MILES
A new study finds that cutting calories is still the best way to lose weight. Sure, exercise is healthful but eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains is the surest way to lose weight and keep it off, the University of Alabama study found.

More health news ...

• Whole Grains and Heart Health Meanwhile, another study finds that Whole grain foods are linked with significant reduction in heart disease.

• Blood Pressure Drugs and Alzheimer’s It's no fun having high blood pressure but here's a little consolation: A new study finds that the ACE inhibitors frequently prescribed to lower blood pressure may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

• States Blast Bud Extra, Spykes, TILT States complain the drinks are loaded with alcohol and caffeine, a potent blend. But Anheuser_Busch issued a strong defense of Spykes, saying it's clearly aimed at adults. It didn't say anything about the other drinks, oddly enough.

SCAMS & OUTRAGES

• Magazine Peddler North Carolina tells Trinity Public Relations to go elsewhere with its door-to-door sales pitches.

• African Puppy Scam Gullible consumers bite on "stranded puppy" bait.

• "Asset Protection" Asset depletion is more like it.

• Tech School California charges MicroSkills took students' money but didn't deliver.

RECALLS

DRIVE-BY HACKERS
Investigators think that "drive-by" hackers are at least partly to blame for the TJX data rip-offs that have been called the largest security breach ever. Sleuths say the cyber-thieves used a telescoping wireless antenna to intercept payment information from stores, decoding info from hand-held payment scanners. How to protect yourself against this? We can't think of an answer, other than paying cash, which has its own drawbacks.

• Texas Sues Pawn Shops for Privacy Violations Customers' personal data dumped in trash cans, suit charges.

• TSA Loses Hard Drive With 100,000 Employee Names, Data Airport security agency no stranger to privacy foul-ups.

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