In the Public Interest

In the old days, lawns with weeds were treated with a little elbow grease. Now they are more likely to be treated with hazardous chemicals called insecticides and herbicides. You don’t often see a ten year old or teenager out there working the lawns. Instead you see the lawn care company’s truck and the applicator…

A bizarre twist has overtaken National Consumer Week (April 23-29) which is announced each year by the White House. During the Reagan years it was merely a mockery as his alleged consumer advisor, Virginia Knauer, went through the charade and the genuine consumer groups avoided or ridiculed this phony public relations ploy. This year, however,…

Congressman Joe Kennedy (D-MA) sits in an anteroom during a break in the House Banking Committee’s markup of the massive savings and loan scandal shaking his head. He can scarcely believe what is happening -­Democrats joining with Republicans on key votes to weaken the already weak Bush proposals for the bailout. One of the votes,…

Historians may some day call these years the Reagan Hangover, but it took only a casual reader of newspapers to see the current consequences of Mr. Reagan’s unceasing and servile compliance with massive corporate delinquencies. The Exxon supertanker oil spill of ten million gallons of devastation to Prince William Sound and beyond in Alaska is…

In all that has been written about the gigantic savings and loan bank scandals, one observation is uniformly held by all parties and positions in ‘Washington — criminal fraud and insider abuse were the overwhelming factors in the insolvencies. Two weeks ago, the General Accounting Office (GAO), an investigative arm of the Congress, reported that…

There was a kind of quizzical expression on Larry King’s face as he started interviewing me about our latest publication called “The Home Book.” It was as if to say: “why the home?” Fair question. The home is so familiar, yet so unknown. So much time is spent there, yet so little discovery is brought…

On March 28, 1989, the tenth anniversary of the nation’s most serious nuclear accident will be observed by anti-nuclear groups around Three Mile Island (TMI) near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The events will serve to remind Americans that “those who ignore the lessons of history will be condemned to repeat them.” Who has learned the lessons of…

The fire-safe cigarette may be on its way to market in a few years. Such an event would reduce the nearly 2000 fatalities and many more burn injuries that flow from the 46,000 fires which cigarettes start, due to careless or tipsy smokers, each year. What has revived hope for such a cigarette is a…

Shoes should not be designed to increase the risk of falling. Indeed, there is an industry-developed standard, published by the American Standards Institute, which requires a minimum of traction for the sole and heel. But this standard is a voluntary one and, anyhow, few consumers know about it. So when the shoe manufacturer places style…

On February 7th, Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., rose on the floor of the Senate to say these words: “This is the hour that many of my colleagues hoped would never arrive. A strategy that many had counted on to put the President’s pay recommendations into effect without a vote in the other body has unraveled.”…