Archive for 2009

Why Doesn’t US Take a Harder Stand on Sub-Standard Chinese Exports?

September 15th, 2009. By Hunter West

Anyone who wonders why the US doesn’t clamp down harder on China and some of the sorry, dangerous, unsafe crap they export into this country need only remember that the People’s Republic of China owns 24.07 percent of all the US Treasury Securities held by foreigners (as of January, 2009 source: The US Treasury). 

That’s $739.6 billion dollars. And thus, one might speculate, 739.6 billion reasons why Americans have had to put up with substandard tires, lead in painted toys, counterfeit substances in heparin, anti-freeze in toothpaste, and God-knows-what in toxic Chinese drywall.

It’s criminal, what some families are going through. Especially in this economy, which is still in the doldrums with far too many people out of work, it’s that much harder to realize the great American Dream of home ownership. And once you separate the wheat from the chaff and ferret out those who accepted choking mortgages for palaces and estates their income levels suggest they have no business of Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall, Chinese imports
Posted in Defective Products | No Comments »

Cell Phone Radiation: 10 Best, 10 Worst

September 14th, 2009. By LucyC

So, in case you missed it—and I very nearly did—the Environmental Working Group (EWG) put out 2 lists last week ranking radiation levels emitted from cell phones—the 10 least dangerous and the 10 most dangerous. 

They EWG evaluated over 1000 different types of phones—who knew there where than many to choose from? How could any consumer possibly figure out the dirty on that many phones? Thank you EWG! 

Bottom line, while the EWG boffins could not find conclusive proof that cell phones cause cancer —specifically brain cancer—they couldn’t give the devices  a clean bill of health either.

But you may want to know, your kids are most at risk for cell phone radiation-related health problems because their skulls are thinner and softer-so they absorb radiation more easily.

So without further ado, here’s the EWG’s list of the 10 best phones in terms of radiation levels:

Listing is based on phones currently available from major carriers.

            1.         Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) [AT&T]

            2.         Motorola RAZR V8 [CellularONE]

            3.         Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]

            4.         Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]

            5.         Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) [AT&T]

            6.         Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) [CellularONE, T-Mobile]

            7.         T-Mobile Sidekick [T-Mobile]

            8.         LG Xenon (GR500) [AT&T]

            9.         Motorola Karma QA1 [AT&T]

            10.       Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]

For the top 10 worst cell phones for radiation emission, look here.

Tags: Cell Phone Radiation, Cell Phones
Posted in Defective Products, Emerging Issues | 2 Comments »

Paxil Birth Defects Trial Underway in Nation’s Birthplace

September 14th, 2009. By AbiK

It’s somehow eerily fitting that the bellwhether trial case for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Paxil is taking place in Philadelphia—the nation’s birthplace. You can’t really think of such a trial going on in Philly without recalling a few excerpts from the Declaration of Independence—and not just the more famous lines about unalienable rights but also some lesser quoted phrases like “Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies”; substitute the word “mothers” for “colonies” and you’ve just advanced 233 years to be talking about Paxil.

At the heart of the trial that’s now underway is GSK’s allegedly knowing—and failing to warn patients—that its anti-depressant drug, Paxil, could cause birth defects.

All eyes are on this first case which centers on Lyam Kilker, now 3, who has suffered life-threatening heart defects since birth. According to bloomberg.com (9/11/09), Michelle David, Lyam’s mother, was quoted as saying that:

…she was prescribed Paxil during her first trimester to treat mild anxiety. Lyam was born with defects including two holes in his heart as a result of taking the drug, she said in court papers. The infant underwent multiple surgeries within six months of his birth, she said.

She said wouldn’t have taken Paxil if she knew of the risk and contends that Glaxo failed to warn her or her doctors.

“All of Ms. David’s physicians who prescribed Paxil just prior to and during her pregnancy with Lyam have testified that had they been warned that Paxil could increase the risk of cardiovascular heart defects, they would not have prescribed it to her,” according to court papers.

Needless to say, GSK’s position is that there’s no mea culpa; however, reports estimate at least 600 additional cases waiting in the pipeline for the outcome of this trial to say just whose culpa it is. For the sake of legacy of our forefathers, let’s hope prudence prevails.

Tags: Glaxo, GSK, paxil, paxil-heart-defects-newborn
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 2 Comments »

Tagged.com: Poser member caught up in kiddie porn

September 11th, 2009. By AbiK

Wasn’t it just a few days ago that we posted about a sexual assault case that started as a seemingly find-your-true-love-online deal via Tagged.com?

This time it’s kiddie porn charges—not played out thankfully, but the accused is charged with keeping “stores of child pornography in his Lilburn (GA) home”, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

How’d it happen? The accused, Bish Shorrosh, 51, was on Tagged.com posing as a 45-year old guy named “Matthew”. Luckily (or not) he got into an online conversation with a woman from Texas—with whom he shared things like the fact that he apparently (allegedly!) likes “teen boys” and girls when they “start growing physically”. Uh-huh.

As with all these types of cases, what’s amazing is that this woman continued to talk with this guy. They apparently exchanged emails and started talking over at Yahoo chat. Go figure. But at least that’s how the guy was caught—so it’s really a public service that this woman provided.

We may have to start keeping score between Tagged.com and Craigslist.

Tags: Tagged.com
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Chinese Drywall: Here doggy, doggy!

September 11th, 2009. By AbiK

There was an article in the Palm Beach Post earlier in the week about…what else? Chinese drywall! Well, you can’t blame the folks in Palm Beach and Broward Counties—it’s a daily nuisance (or worse) they have to live with. But, they might be getting some help—from dogs.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of getting “frisked” by some gnarling, ferocious dogs as you’re tooling through customs in Miami International Airport, you know what dogs are capable of sniffing out. So I’m all for this one.

According to the Palm Beach Post article, defective Chinese drywall can be difficult to locate with real accuracy—and air quality tests don’t necessarily register high levels of sulfur. That one stopped me cold: all the hoopla about “professional” testing of homes for Chinese drywall to date has pretty much focused on air quality tests—and they may not necessarily detect it?

Give it to the dogs!

The article goes on to quote American K-9 president, Mark Mahler, as saying “The more I read about Chinese drywall, the more I’m committed to getting some dogs trained and get them out there to help.” He also noted that dog training could begin in a matter of weeks.

Another little tidbit from Mahler: Dogs’ sense of smell is up to 40x stronger than humans. While humans have about 5 million olfactory cells, dogs average 220 to 250.

Tags: chinese drywall
Posted in Defective Products | 1 Comment »