Toxic game consoles?
November 28, 2007
In our most recent Uncover story, Nintendo and Microsoft are put under the microscope by Greenpeace for toxic chemicals used in manufacturing their game consoles.
Eighteen leading electronics companies were ranked on a 10-point scale, with Nintendo being the first and only company to score zero.
The creators of Mario and Luigi provided no information to consumers on the substances it uses in manufacturing or on its plans to cut hazardous materials. Those aren’t the Mario Brothers I grew up with! And my folks thought playing the cutting-edge game Pitfall on Intellivision was bad for my health.
With all the recent recalls of toys with lead in them, do holiday shoppers really need any extra worries at this point when shopping for the gamers in their family?
Anyhow, the chemical culprits to be aware of are a vinyl known as PVC as well as fire retardants that can be a hazard when released into the environment.
Of course, your children could be a hazard when released into the environment this holiday season if they don’t get their Xbox or Wii from Santa.
-FRANCIS SMITH, Special Publications Assistant Editor
Sphere: Related ContentPonying up for club-level care
November 28, 2007
I’m back on the job today after an illness prompted me to visit my beloved doctor for the last time. It was my last encounter with her because as of Jan. 2, she’ll have left her Columbia practice – and all insurance participation – to form her own “membership practice,” as many popular physicians have done recently.
And, boy, does it sound nice – almost like a health club membership.
For $1,800 a year (or quarterly payments of $475), I’d be one of only 400 patients under her care. I’d receive the convenience of in-office blood draws, vaccines, and personal e-mails from my doctor; all services she has cut from her current practice due to increasing costs. As she writes in her letter, “There are no copayments, no deductibles, and no insurance paperwork.” By cutting out the insurance companies, she can do more for each of her patients.
At least, the ones who can afford to keep seeing her.
The choice is mine: pony up for “old-fashioned” service, or join the masses hunting for a qualified physician who accepts my insurance.
I wonder which is the lesser of two evils?
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentCall us if health care bill will affect your business
November 28, 2007
So who here knew that a health care expansion bill snuck through at the last second of the special session? It was not one of the highest-profile issues of the marathon, three-week legislative blitz overshadowed by the slot machine debate and measures to raise $1.4 billion in new revenue.
But it could be important for small business. Legislative analysts wrote that a plan to subsidize employee health coverage for small businesses could help add 15,000 people to the rolls of the state’s insured, with a price tag around $30 million.
The coverage isn’t for everyone - just businesses with between 2 and 9 employees that want to offer insurance with “wellness” options like health club membership assistance. And the source of the money is not necessary solidified forever. It could change within a few years.
Will this affect your business? If it doesn’t, do you think you’re being unfairly left out? Or is this a good start on helping small businesses keep their workers healthy?
I’m working on a story about this for Friday. Want to get in on it? Call me at (443) 524-8175.
-ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentTaxes? What taxes?
November 27, 2007
In its latest edition, Business Week has published a list of 50 companies that paid the least corporate taxes over a five-year period as part of an article on the impact of proposed reforms to corporate taxation. Maryland had only one company on the list — in the top 10 no less: Bethesda-based private equity firm American Capital Strategies.
The company, which has a piece, in part or in whole, of companies like Piper Cub, Rug Doctor and football helmet maker Riddell, had an effective tax rate of 1.8 percent. That put it eighth on Business Week’s list.
According to Business Week: … “because it’s a Regulated Investment Company under IRS rules, it owes no federal income taxes so long as it distributes most of its taxable income and capital gains to shareholders. The short version: the company paid very little to Uncle Sam while distributing $454 million in dividends to shareholders.”
Just because American Capital had a low tax rate, should it be a leading example of why the country needs corporate tax reform, or is it a prime example of how a free market should work?
-BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor
Sphere: Related ContentAnnapolis chosen to test new Budweiser vodka
November 27, 2007
Things are really beginning to look up for Maryland’s capital city’s image. First, this week’s Mid-East peace conference has put all eyes on Annapolis, “America’s Sailing Capital.”
Now, Annapolis will again be on par with such major metro areas as New York, Boston and Washington.
According to Bloomberg News, Anheuser-Busch is looking to Annapolis to help roll out its newest creation — “Purus,” an Italian-made organic-wheat based vodka. The beer giant is looking to continue branching out from its strictly suds history and expand its offerings.
Before going full retail, Purus will be sold through bars, restaurants and package stores in Annapolis, Boston, New York and Washington.
The new vodka costs about $35 and comes in a raindrop-shaped bottle.
Do you think Budweiser’s parent company is making the right call?
-BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor
Sphere: Related ContentFirefighters: aiming to extinguish terrorism?
November 26, 2007
Firefighters tend to enjoy hero status as first responders who arrive with only one agenda: to put out the fire and help the wounded.
The government is adding another to the job description: to be lookouts for possible terrorist activity.
Unlike boys in blue, firefighters and EMTs don’t need warrants to enter homes and buildings – an enviable position that allows them to scout for blueprints or bombs.
As you might imagine, critics are concerned about an invasion of privacy:
Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now national security policy counsel to the ACLU, said the concept is dangerously close to the Bush administration’s 2002 proposal to have workers with access to private homes — such as postal carriers and telephone repairmen — report suspicious behavior to the FBI. “Americans universally abhorred that idea,” German said.
That hasn’t stopped Homeland Security from training NYC firefighters to spot signs of terrorist activity. If the training’s successful in New York (and a fire chief quoted in the story says it’s turned up a few “hits”), the government intends to expand it.
D.C. firefighters were recently given the same access as police to terrorism-related information. They carry the knowledge with them to the 170,000+ homes and businesses they routinely enter each year.
Are we safer now that we have more sets of eyes on alert for terrorist activity? Or is more of our privacy slipping away?
Will this hold up in court?
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Image courtesy wvs.topleftpixel.com.
Sphere: Related ContentLaw blog round-up
November 26, 2007
Welcome back! To start off your week back at work, here are a few law links you might enjoy:
- Brian Higgins at the Maryland Intellectual Property Law Blog writes about a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, in which the Orthodox Union, which certifies food as kosher, alleges that Baltimore-based Wilder Foods has been using the OU symbol on its packaging even though its spices have not been certified kosher. Update: Wilder tells The Daily Record that the products are certified kosher, but by a certification agency called EarthKosher, rather than by the Orthodox Union.
- Ron Miller at the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog thinks plaintiffs’ lawyers undervalue herniated disc cases.
- Adam Liptak of The New York Times has an interesting story on what happens to unclaimed money from class-action settlements. Thanks to the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog for the link.
- The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has indefinitely suspended a Maryland lawyer whom our Court of Appeals suspended last year. Her name is Candace Calhoun and she recommended that a client accept an $8,000 settlement, then charged him $9,500 in fees.
- And of course, there’s also more on Rod Rosenstein’s nomination to the 4th Circuit, such as blogger Hoystory ridiculing the Maryland senators’ opposition to the nomination.
-CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentPresident Bush on Annapolis peace conference
November 26, 2007
The White House released President Bush’s statement on the Mideast peace conference to be held in Annapolis this week. Today, Syria agreed to join in the talks.
Read Bush’s remarks below.
I am pleased to welcome Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert, President (Mahmoud) Abbas and representatives of more than 40 countries to the United States for the Nov. 27 Annapolis Conference. The broad attendance at this conference by regional states and other key international participants demonstrates the international resolve to seize this important opportunity to advance freedom and peace in the Middle East.
This conference will signal international support for the Israelis’ and Palestinians’ intention to commence negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of peace between these two peoples.
It will also provide an opportunity for the Israelis, the Palestinians and their neighbors to recommit to implementing the roadmap, with the U.S. monitoring their progress by the parties’ agreement. Finally, the conference will review Palestinian plans to build the institutions of a democratic state and their preparations for next month’s donors’ conference in Paris.
I remain personally committed to implementing my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
The Israelis and Palestinians have waited a long time for this vision to be realized, and I call upon all those gathering in Annapolis this week to redouble their efforts to turn dreams of peace into reality. I look forward to my discussions with Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas this week, as well as to addressing the conference along with them on Tuesday.
Above: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and his wife Aliza arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Sunday, Nov. 25.
Sphere: Related ContentDog owner gets $3,100 tab for bitten bark
November 24, 2007
A Pennsylvania man and his canine companion are being held accountable for the cost of three trees that fell victim to her penchant for bark.
The story, from the AP:
This summer, Tyler Port allowed his dog, Rossman, to run loose in a park. The dog apparently had a habit of chewing bark off trees, and Port was cited for failure to keep the dog under control.
John Iorio, the city’s dog law officer, also is seeking $3,100 to cover the cost of replacing three honey locust trees, which a consultant said may die.
“Rossman,” a pit bull, apparently also likes to hang from tree limbs by her teeth.
Do you think the dog and her 22 year-old owner should have to buy the Altoona park new trees?
Can’t wait to see what area dogs will do to the artificial turf fields that are on the way in Howard and Anne Arundel counties.
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentWho needs Black Friday when you have Cyber Monday?
November 23, 2007
Did you see reporter Louis Llovio’s story today about the effect (or lack thereof) that Black Friday has on small, local retailers?
While the masses descend on area shopping malls and chain stores today, other retailers are gearing up for their day in the sun - on Monday.
They’re online retailers, and they’re hoping that you’ll all rush to work on Monday, browse to your favorite dot com, and order massive amounts of Christmas gifts.
See, a few years ago, a marketing association began calling the Monday after Thanksgiving “Cyber Monday” - a PR campaign based on the myth that the day brought in sweeping sales numbers.
A couple years ago, BusinessWeek discovered that the day wasn’t even in the top 10 of most online sales for the year (in reality, it was about No. 12). The story even attempted to trace the “Cyber Monday” myth to its roots.
It might be a moot point now: the National Retail Federation says enough online retailers are behind the idea this year to offer some can’t-miss discounts.
And you don’t even have to worry about parking or waking up at 4a.m.
Will you do most of your holiday shopping online or in person?
Much as I like the idea of click-click-clicking my way to a stress-free holiday, I can’t seem to bring myself to give up the thrill of the hunt.
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
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