Consumer News & Alerts   |   August 13, 2007

TOO FAST FOR COMFORT
You don't normally think of the Toyota Prius as a speedy car. But Prians tell us the car can without warning shed its mild exterior and turn into a rampaging, full-speed-ahead fire-breather. We wrote about this last week and got the usual collection of emails accusing us of political incorrectness but we also heard from more Prius owners who've had the same experience. Toyota continues to bury its head in the sand, denying the problem exists.

Kerry Wants Flaming Fords Off the Road Toyota is taking a page from Ford's playbook by ignoring the problem with its Prius. Ford, after years of stonewalling, is recalling more of its fire-prone cars and trucks, but Sen. John Kerry says the pace of the recall is way too slow. Most of the other Senators and Representatives we contacted either didn't respond or said they had more important things on their mind.

We find it unsettling that Members of Congress think anything's more important than protecting their constituents, but it's a very common response when we question them about issues that pick the pockets and affect the health of the voters who return them to office year after year. Among Senators not responding to the Flaming Fords issue are Frank Lautenberg, (D-N.J.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

More automotive news ...

• Importer Recalls Some Chinese Truck and SUV Tires You thought these tires had already been recalled? Nope. The importer claims it can't afford to recall them all and the law doesn't leave many options for federal safety regulators.

• Gas Prices Drop; Only Five States Above $3 Nationwide average for regular self-serve falls to $2.80

• Ford CEO Finds 50-Cent Gas Tax Increase "Interesting" Alan Mulally thinks a 50-cent per gallon gasoline tax would help ease dependence on imported oil.

• ExxonMobil Dodges "Hot Fuel" Issue, Group Charges Do new pump labels in California acknowledge a rip-off?

• Buick Ties with Lexus in Dependability Rankings Cadillac, Mercury and Honda round out the top five.

ADVICE TO PARENTS: SKIP THE CHEAP JEWELRY
There's a lot of chest-beating about dangerous imports from China, but when you get past all the verbiage, not much is being done. It's up to parents to keep dangerous products away from their kids -- and a good place to start is by getting rid of cheap costume jewelry, likely to contain dangerous levels of lead. Parents shouldn't wait around, expecting the government to protect them.

More parenting notes ...

• Videos May Not Be Good For Baby "Educational" videos may dumb down baby, researchers warn.

• Parents Urged To Monitor Kids' Video Games Court overturns California law banning violent games.

• Beach Pollution Worsening, Environmental Group Warns Beach closings due to bacterial contamination on the rise.

MORTGAGE MELTDOWN
The subprime mortgage crisis is pulling down financial markets worldwide and making it difficult to get any kind of decent mortgage. Rep. Barney Frank says the current train wreck could have been avoided if unregulated mortgage lenders had not been turned loose to loot and pillage the landscape.

Fed Leaves Key Interest Rate Unchanged The U.S. Federal Reserve and other world governments pumped cash into the system last week to stop a frightening freefall. The Fed cited inflation fears as it kept the prime rate unchanged.

PETER PAN RETURNS
The spinmesiters were busy as Peter Pan skipped back onto the peanut butter shelves, just seven months after it was blamed for an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. Massive conglomerate ConAgra says the goop is completely safe and brags that it will offer consumers a “100 percent satisfaction guarantee.” About the same time ConAgra's eager Communications Arts graduates were sending out its glowing press releases, Steve of Winter Springs, Florida, was telling us about his mother who died after eating half a jar of tainted peanut butter.

With Steve's complaint, we have now heard from families of five elderly Americans who died after eating the poisonous peanut butter. Federal and state agencies have sat on their hands, relying on what John Kerry might call their "9 to 5" bureucratic procedures, doing nothing to verify the deaths and very little to prevent future ones.

We don't understand how universities can justify offering courses in public relations. What's next -- Scam Artistry 301?

In more unsafe food news ...

• Seafood from China Slips through FDA's Net One million pounds of seafood imported from China wound up in grocery stores across the United States without being tested for banned drugs or chemicals, an Associated Press investigation found. That’s equivalent to the amount 66,000 Americans would eat in one year, AP reported.

• FDA Takes Action Against Iowa Dairy Illegal residues of drugs found in the dairy's cows.

• FDA Warns Against Red Yeast Rice Products Dietary supplement promoted on the Internet contains dangerous substances.

• FDA Warns Of Another Botulism Threat This time it's canned green beans, sold under a variety of brand names.

SCAMS & OUTRAGES

• Online Job Postings May Lead To Phone Scam Job-seekers need to be careful when listing contact info.

• 866 Calls Pushing Phony Health Insurance Caller claims to offer Medicare Plus plans.

• Scammer Pretends To Be Oklahoma Attorney General "Just calling to confirm your lottery winnings," scammer claims.

RECALLS

FITS AND STARTS
We have several nifty new technical advances in the works this summer, including a new email newsletter program that will enable us to offer specialized newsletters and alerts. Also ready to unwrap is a new "email me" program that will work much better than the current model. We hope to have all these in place by the end of the month.

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