Consumerist
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Minerals Management Service Take Pay-For-Offshore-Oil-Play Scandal "Extremely Seriously"
WHO: Minerals Management Service
WHAT: A government agency in charge of issuing offshore drilling leases and collecting royalties was accused of getting payola in the form of sex, drugs, money, alcohol and gifts from oil and gas industry representatives.
WHERE: Oil brokers sex scandal may affect drilling debate [AP]
THE QUOTE: In an interview, MMS Director Randall Luthi said the agency took the report "extremely seriously"(Thanks to everyone who sent this in!) (Photo: zncjmom)
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scandals
Did FAA Allow Southwest To Fly Unsafe Planes To Avoid Flight Disruptions?
Yesterday the FAA sought $10.2 million in civil damages from Southwest Airlines for neglecting to inspect the fuselages of 46 of its planes. In documents the FAA submitted to Congress, it alleges "the airline flew at least 117 of its planes in violation of mandatory safety checks" over a 30 month period. Southwest says its passengers were never in danger, and that it was an honest oversight that they caught on their own and revealed to the FAA—but (here's where it gets interesting) an FAA inspector has testified that Southwest continued to fly a plane after he discovered the failed inspections and notified them. Now the U.S. Department of Transportation and Congress are asking why the FAA didn't ground the planes as soon as they knew about the missed inspections, and a couple of FAA whistleblowers are leaking internal docs to the press. Only after the issue became public knowledge did the FAA seek civil damages.
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internet
Biz Columnist Changes His Mind, Now Says "Carriers Need Regulation"
You know telecoms are behaving badly when a business columnist who just a year ago argued for a hands-off government approach has reversed his opinion. "I've changed my mind," he writes. "The behavior of the top telecommunications companies, especially Verizon Communications and AT&T, has convinced me that more government involvement is needed to keep communications free of corporate interference." More » -
news from the swamp
Department Of Education Busts Student Loan Party Once And For All
The Department of Education has issued new rules to keep financial aid officers on the straight and narrow. The rules were issued after students, loan companies, and colleges failed to agree on a compromise measure. The rules will ban several practices:
- Colleges will be required to recommend at least three preferred loan companies to students;
- Colleges will need to explain how and why they chose their preferred lenders;
- Colleges can no longer accept computers or reimbursement for printed materials from loan companies at less than market rate;
- Loan companies would be banned from giving gifts or cash to financial aid officers;
- Loan companies cannot contribute to school-affiliated groups, like alumni associations. More »
- Colleges will be required to recommend at least three preferred loan companies to students;
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the russian connection
Software Weak Link in ATM Scam Fingered
The mystery third party transaction software provider implicated in the ATM debit card scam scandal may have been named by VISA. More » -
atms
Consumers with Forced Debit Card Reissues Step Forward
More signs point to OfficeDepot/OfficeMax and Sam's Club/Wal-Mart as being the retailers suspected of letting thousands of customer's debit cards and PINs to be stolen (see ATM Fraud UPDATE: Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, Sam's Club, Office Depot Suspected). More » -
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the russian connection
ATM Fraud UPDATE: Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, Sam's Club, Office Depot Suspected
A new article by ConsumerAffairs.com claims that the Citibank investigation into thousands of stolen debit cards and PINs centers on two 3rd party retailers. More »
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