The Core

Exxon's using the tobacco playbook

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/23/harvard-scientists-took-exxons-challenge-found-it-using-the-tobacco-playbook

AccuWeather issues statement on claims it was collecting and sharing location data against users' will

https://www.fastcompany.com/40457621/accuweather-issues-statement-on-claims-it-was-collecting-and-sharing-location-data-against-users-will

Corporations Make Big Climate Promises Only To Retreat After A Few Years, Study Finds

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/corporate-sustainability-climate-change_us_5a1c7002e4b0e9bc3368d93e

>Companies lie

I liked this one from Reddit

More 'fur free' retailers found selling rabbit and fox fur, Sky News finds

https://news.sky.com/story/more-retailers-selling-real-fur-labelled-as-fake-sky-news-investigation-finds-11177979

100 percent of donations go to the Michigan Humane Society

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders/michigan-attorney-general-sues-company-over-deceptive-clothing-bins-throughout-state

Washington state: Comcast was "even more deceptive" than we thought

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/washington-state-comcast-was-even-more-deceptive-than-we-thought/

QuoteShortly after publication, Google reviews of Hill Crest were scrubbed from search results for the facility. Currently, only one review — written this month — appears.

A spokesperson for Google declined to comment directly but said that reviews may be removed from listings if they violate Google review policies.

How a Giant Psychiatric Hospital Company Tried To Spin Us — And Silence Its Staff

https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosalindadams/how-a-giant-psychiatric-hospital-company-tried-to-spin-us

Verizon's Proposed Settlement in New York Covers Up One of the Largest, Nationwide, Accounting Scandals in American History.

https://medium.com/@kushnickbruce/verizons-proposed-settlement-in-new-york-covers-up-one-of-the-largest-nationwide-accounting-5b0c1e8e1aa6

Biggest Voting Machine Maker Admits -- Ooops -- That It Installed Remote Access Software After First Denying It

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180717/23350940257/biggest-voting-machine-maker-admits-ooops-that-it-installed-remote-access-software-after-first-denying-it.shtml

All these things really need a real time paper trail that have a viewing window so that the voter could see his/her vote was tallied the right way.  Anything short of that is just wishful thinking.

Wells Fargo's reform plan fails to satisfy Federal Reserve

https://nypost.com/2018/12/06/fed-rejects-wells-fargos-reform-plan-after-string-of-scandals/

California commission finds PG&E falsified records for years - CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/15/us/pge-falsifying-records/index.html

----------------

J&J knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/

https://biznology.com/2014/09/google-lying-liar-lies/

^{Bigger than the Dotcom Morgue.}

Charter-Spectrum reaches $174.2 million settlement in New York AG's speed fraud lawsuit - The Verge

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/18/18146210/charter-spectrum-174-million-settlement-new-york-state-attorney-general-internet-speeds

Android phones start lying about offering 5G | Cult of Mac
https://www.cultofmac.com/599722/5g-android-phones-lies-att/

Office Depot rigged PC malware scans to sell unneeded $300 tech support | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/office-depot-tricked-people-into-buying-pc-support-with-fake-virus-scans/

Wow! Page out of the Indian scammer playbook.

At the risk of sounding naive, I am genuinely shocked, no irony, that Office Depot would do that

Restaurants lie.

"Even tiny amounts of gluten in foods are troublesome for people with celiac disease, and restaurants may be the hardest places to avoid the protein, finds a new study. More than half of gluten-free pizza and pasta dishes in restaurants tested positive for the presence of gluten; about one-third of supposedly gluten-free foods had detectable gluten. Gluten-free pasta samples were positive in 51 percent of tests; gluten-free pizza contained gluten for 53 percent."

Study measures gluten in gluten-free labeled restaurant food -- ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190405170447.htm

'Biodegradable' plastic bags survive three years in soil and sea | Environment | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/biodegradable-plastic-bags-survive-three-years-in-soil-and-sea

Verizon's New 'Unlimited' Plans Are Just Screwing With Us Now
https://gizmodo.com/verizons-new-unlimited-plans-are-just-screwing-with-us-1836909106

Biodegradable products are almost never good for the environment. The solve the litter problem, but they do not solve the trash problem and they tend to make the pollution problem worse.

Google Photos offers unlimited free storage for life. Or 15GB, whichever comes first.

https://thomashawk.com/2020/11/google-photos-bait-meet-switch.html

This is good news for Smug Mug (parent company of Flickr)
https://jeremy0.medium.com/google-photos-is-out-flickr-is-back-77232e84d78d

Facebook was caught lying to advertisers (again)
Unredacted court documents show that Facebook knowingly misled advertisers on how many eyeballs the platform reaches.
https://thehustle.co/02232021-facebook-advertising/

QuoteIn one nugget from the filing, Facebook told advertisers it could target 100m people aged 18-34 years old in the US even though there are only 76m people in that age group.

The article also alerted me to a not so new nickname: Scrooge McZuck.

Facebook employee warned it used 'deeply wrong' ad metrics to boost revenue
The 'potential reach' metric counted fake and duplicate accounts
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/18/22289232/facebook-ad-revenue-proposed-reach-inflation-lawsuit-unredacted-filings

Some companies pledged to halt donations to lawmakers who objected to certifying Biden's election win. They have not kept their promise.
https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-didnt-keep-promise-not-fund-lawmakers-objected-election-certification-2021-7

Alberta: Shell's Massive Carbon Capture Plant Is Emitting More Than It's Capturing

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kb43x/shell-quest-carbon-capture-plant-alberta

Fossil fuel companies own green rhetoric betrays an ugly truth — analysis
https://www.inverse.com/science/fossil-fuel-companies-green-rhetoric-truth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXuBnz6vtuI

Ford to pay states $19.2M over false advertising claims
https://nypost.com/2022/05/24/ford-to-pay-states-19-2m-over-false-advertising-claims/

Samsung Busted For Cheating TV Test Benchmarks | Techdirt
https://www.techdirt.com/2022/06/17/samsung-busted-for-cheating-tv-test-benchmarks/

Bird overstated shared electric scooter revenue for two years - The Verge

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/14/23457688/bird-revenue-overstated-shared-electric-scooters-audit

Bob Dylan's Publisher Admits $600 Books Had Replica Autographs | Pitchfork

....came with an authenticity certificate from Simon & Schuster

https://pitchfork.com/news/bob-dylans-publisher-admits-600-books-had-replica-autographs/

Most Americans Don't Trust Companies to Use AI Responsibly: Study

https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-americans-business-trust-technology-workers-gallup-survey-2023-9

California: Cruise Self-Driving License Revoked After It Withheld Pedestrian Injury Footage, DMV Says

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3ba3/california-dmv-suspends-cruises-self-driving-car-license-after-pedestrian-injury

Uber, Lyft to hand back $328M of stolen wages to NY drivers
So much for appy cabbies being 'partners' - Big U kept fares low by making 'em pay fees that riders should have picked up
https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/03/uber_lyft_new_york_back_pay/

HBO CEO Confesses to Trolling Critics With Fake Tweets After Rolling Stone Exposé
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/hbo-ceo-casey-bloys-confesses-trolling-critics-fake-twitter-accounts-dumb-idea-1234868710/

>lie

& Cheat

Toyota financing arm fined $60 million by consumer watchdog for car loan scam

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/20/cfpb-fines-toyota-financing-arm-for-60-million-for-car-loan-scam.html


Et tu, Toyota?

Companies lie ....and sabotage repairs?

Developing story.


Trains were designed to break down after third-party repairs, hackers find | Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/manufacturer-deliberately-bricked-trains-repaired-by-competitors-hackers-find/

"the profit system follows the path of least resistance and following the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked."
  — Utah Phillips

Behind the scene of food commercials

https://old.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/18m1h71/behind_the_scene_of_food_commercials/

What are you complaining about. I love me some Penzoil on my pancakes. Everyone knows all that sugar in maple syrup will kill you.

Quote from: rcjordan on December 19, 2023, 11:23:21 PM
Behind the scene of food commercials

https://old.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/18m1h71/behind_the_scene_of_food_commercials/

True.  My mother worked as a food tech prepping food products for TV commercials in the 1970s.  Blowing cigarette smoke on plates of food to give a hot-from-the-oven impression was a popular trick apparently.

>My mother worked as a food tech prepping food products for TV commercials in the 1970

My commercial artist brother sub-contracted with an ad company (Chicago) in the 60s. He told stories of working for days on a team that poured out a bunch of boxes in order to pick and strategically place (with tweezers) sugar-coated corn flakes.

He evolved into air-brushing and food companies were big clients.

>Et tu, Toyota?

Systemic?

https://thehill.com/business/4379454-toyota-subsidiary-shuts-down-after-admitting-it-falsified-safety-tests/

Toyota subsidiary shuts down after admitting it falsified safety tests | The Hill

https://fortune.com/2024/01/03/starbucks-app-dark-side-unspent-payments-900-million-5-years/

Dark side of Starbucks app: Coffee giant accused of rigging payments to the tune of nearly $900 million over 5 years | Fortune

"Starbucks rigs its payment platform so consumers are encouraged to leave unspent money on their cards and apps"

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/ftc-orders-intuit-to-stop-pushing-free-software-that-isnt-really-free/

FTC orders Intuit to stop pushing "free" software that isn't really free

https://heated.world/p/the-propane-industry-is-trying-to

The propane industry is trying to dupe you

Members of a propane industry lobbying group strategized to downplay the full climate impacts of propane and market it as renewable or "clean energy,"

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cooling/half-of-tested-pc-watercoolers-dont-use-the-premium-materials-advertised-like-copper-report

Half of tested PC watercoolers don't use the premium materials advertised, like copper: Report | Tom's Hardware

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/cable-isp-fined-10000-for-lying-to-fcc-about-where-it-offers-broadband/

Cable ISP fined $10,000 for lying to FCC about where it offers broadband | Ars Technica

lie repeatedly...

https://www.scrippsnews.com/business/company-news/williams-sonoma-fined-3-18-million-dollars-for-falsely-labeling-products-as-made-in-usa

Williams-Sonoma fined $3.18 million for falsely labeling products as 'Made in USA'

The Federal Trade Commission said the retailer violated a 2020 order it settled that made the same allegations.

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/razer-forced-to-pay-more-than-dollar1m-in-refunds-for-its-rgb-surgical-n95-respirators-that-were-not-n95-respirators/

Razer billed the Zephyr as an N95 mask, and the FTC says that was a lie.

Razer forced to pay more than $1M in refunds for its RGB 'surgical N95 respirators' that were not N95 respirators | PC Gamer

https://apnews.com/article/toyota-certification-cheating-japan-automakers-scandal-26585a96df2a32f7d67a4011a0a98772

Toyota apologizes for cheating on vehicle testing and halts production of three models | AP News

3 companies apologized..

Toyota
Mazda
Honda

"Carbon neutral" Bitcoin operation founded by coal plant operator wasn't actually carbon neutral
https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/09/terawulf/#hunterbrook

I know, I know. Uncovering that the founders of a Bitcoin company lied is shocking. Shocking.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wp46l3gv4o

Food rating lies exposed by BBC secret recording

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/15/gm-cruise-self-driving-taxi

GM's Cruise admits submitting false report to robotaxi safety investigation | General Motors | The Guardian

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/we-dont-trust-product-specs/

We Don't Trust Manufacturers' Product Specs. You Shouldn't Either. | Wirecutter

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/20/colorado-oil-gas-false-environmental-impact-reports

Oil and gas firms operating in Colorado falsified environmental impact reports | Colorado | The Guardian

https://seths.blog/2024/12/fiblets/

"These fiblets are so common that they become part of the culture, a trope that lets the user know that this is a real organization"

Tesla accused of hacking odometers to avoid warranty repairs.

https://www.thestreet.com/automotive/tesla-accused-of-using-sneaky-tactic-to-dodge-car-repairs

TL;DR - California driver filed a warranty claim and noticed shortly thereafter his daily 20-mile commute was registering as 70+ miles until he hit 50,000 and was informed his car was no longer under warranty, at which point the daily commute went back to 20 miles. Others on the Tesla subreddit have reported the same thing

Judge Rules Apple Executive Lied Under Oath, Makes Criminal Contempt Referral

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/judge-rules-apple-executive-lied

Nothing Phone 3 caught faking camera samples - Android Authority

https://www.androidauthority.com/nothing-phone-3-fake-camera-3591569/

You Don't Actually Own That Movie You Just "Bought."
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/prime-video-lawsuit-movie-license-ownership-1236353127/

Amazon is actually being sued over this. We, of course, all know about this, but did not realize that with respect to music, artists get paid a lot more when their music is licensed than they do when it is sold, but Amazon and other digital "sellers" of music *license* the music to us but account it as a *sale* when they pay artists and Cory Doctorow explains.
https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/26/sole-and-despotic-dominion/

Tesla denied having fatal crash data until a hacker found it - Ars Technica

The data was key evidence in the death of a pedestrian in 2019.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/08/how-a-hacker-helped-win-a-wrongful-death-lawsuit-against-tesla/

Plug-in Hybrids Now Emit 5 Times, on Average, What Official Tests Claim — EU Data

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/09/10/plug-in-hybrids-now-emit-5-times-on-average-what-official-tests-claim-eu-data/

>> Plug-in Hybrids

I think this is a bit misleading. My understanding is that this is not like the Volkswagen thing where they are gaming the tests.

The problem with Plug-in Hybrids is that it turns out that you have to plug them in. Who would have guessed?

So the official tests are based on the assumption that if the car has X miles of battery range, the first X miles of a trip will always be on battery. But it turns out that if you don't plug them in, you just have a hybrid with 150 pounds of extra battery.

When we were shopping for our car, we ran into someone who had the exact car and we asked about how much battery range he got and he literally did not know that it was a PHEV. He had had it for several months and never plugged it in.

I feel like this is more like the situation where early climate models tend to be off (they predict less warming than we have seen) not because the science was wrong but because they misjudged human behavior. They assumed that as data rolled in, people would take action, but that didn't happen.

Similarly, I feel like the car companies and agencies who set testing protocols got the tests right, but misjudged human nature (i.e. they would rather go to the gas station and pump gas rather than taking 14 seconds when they get home to plug in the car). Also, of course, some people don't even consider that their only parking is on-street and they have no means to charge the car. With a full EV, they would simply have to trade the car in, but with a PHEV they drive it like an HEV and call it a day.

ergo, that makes a lot of sense.

Quote from: Brad on September 14, 2025, 09:48:07 PMergo, that makes a lot of sense.

To the extent that it makes sense to buy a plug-in hybrid and then not plug it in :-)

With my car, the P was something like a $4000 upgrade over the plain HEV and you end up with an unnecessarily heavy vehicle with unnecessarily expensive tires.  DOH!!