For years, Walmart has been able to offer customers low prices. These low prices are often criticized as being unsustainable, as the costs are foisted off onto any entity that doesn’t run away fast enough. Walmart’s suppliers are squeezed for pennies by economically coercing them into signing deals that they can’t refuse, because to be
Just last week, Mylan Inc. decided it was a good idea to raise the price of the life-saving EpiPen, which is used to stop a person from going into anaphylactic shock after experiencing an allergic reaction. Life-threatening allergies are on the rise and millions of people rely on the EpiPen to maintain their quality of
Our two main presidential candidates (and their political tribes) have very different visions for the future of immigration in the United States. Clinton favors a path to citizenship, while the more xenophobic Trump claims he’ll build a giant wall. Both sides fail to perceive why we have a schizophrenic situation where migrant workers are simultaneously
On August 1, 2016, a press release was published by the Washington Attorney General’s office announcing that Attorney General Bob Ferguson had filed a lawsuit against corporate giant Comcast. The lawsuit alleges that Comcast bilked its subscribers out of millions of dollars related to its Service Protection Plan. Comcast’s Latest Lawsuit by Washington A.G. is Not
While watching TV the other night, I saw a commercial featuring a man perched atop the front of a humble desk while donning a smart sweater, hands folded peacefully in front of him, backlit by soft lighting, with a smile that seemed desperate to proclaim, “let’s be friends.” It was somewhat reminiscent of an old
People go to amusement parks and county fairs to experience harmless thrills in relative safety, but several recent news items have left me even less likely to want to go to the carnival the next time it rolls into town. These three high profile accidents make it seem that amusement rides are scarier than clowns, which is
Identify fraud, also known as identify theft, is a term used to describe situations where your personal identifying information is stolen by another person or persons and used for their personal gain. For example, someone steals your identification and uses that information to open credit card accounts in your name; or steal your bank information,
In the US today, 40 of the 50 states have what has been termed the “tampon tax.” Women in these states pay sales tax on feminine hygiene products, which have been described as “luxury” items, whereas things like food and medicine are considered “necessities.” Oh, and in some states, Viagra. Viagra is considered a “necessity.”
Recently, I posted about the problem of planned obsolescence, and how industry profits mightily by creating products with shorter than necessary lifespans in order to drum up repeat business. On one hand, this practice creates jobs for people who keep producing the items people need as the old ones wear out. On the other hand,
In June, 2016, the Inspector General, Daniel R. Levinson, notified Robert M. Califf, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, that, as a result of an ongoing audit his office was conducting, it was found that the method that the FDA used to initiate a food recall was inefficient and ineffective.