Cash4Gold, the company that targets poor, desperate late-night TV watchers with endorsements by equally cash-strapped celebrities, is a scam! Okay, maybe you already knew that. But unless you're one of the poor chumps who dialed their 1-800 number, you don't know how they fleece customers—4 Cash!—or what the state plans to do about it.
The company's advertisements—which feature washed-up rapper MC Hammer—lure in customers with handfuls of money, but in reality pay only 11 to 29 percent of an item's market value, compared with pawn shops that pay 35 to 70 percent. One victim, church organist Frank Poindexter, received 15 cents for jewelry that had been appraised at $200. "I looked at the check and thought it was a mistake," Poindexter said. "When I called them, they actually accused me of scamming them." After customers send in their jewelry for appraisal, Cash4Gold gives them only twelve days to get their goods back if they feel they've been low-balled. Sometimes when they protest they're told the jewelry has already been thrown in the furnace.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
In the News
North Dakota city skips a day on new calendar
North Dakota residents and others relying on a new calendar issued by the city of Grand Forks will get a jump-start on February.
The recently issued City of Grand Forks 2010 Calendar is missing Sunday, Jan. 31.
City spokesman John Bernstrom says the error was noticed when boxes of the calendar printed by Fine Print of Grand Forks were opened before Christmas.
Bernstrom says if Jan. 31 had been a weekday in which there was garbage or recycling collection, the city would have issued a correction or public statement. Feb. 1 appears on the calendar as a Monday so the rest of the year is correct.
Fine Print President Kevin Kuntz says January is the coldest month of the year and having one day less works for him.
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Boy's science project prompts school evacuation
Fire officials said a San Diego middle school was evacuated when a student's science project was mistaken for a bomb. Fire-Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque said a vice principal's concerns prompted the evacuation of Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School Friday afternoon. Luque said an arson team took photos and x-rays of the empty plastic bottle with wires and determined it was harmless.
Luque says the 11-year-old boy was trying to build a motion detector from instructions he found on the Internet and parts he bought online with help from his father. His parents did not realize that the object looked threatening.
He said the student was "a genius-type kid" who undertook the project on his own, had no intentions of hurting anyone or causing any disruptions.
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North Dakota residents and others relying on a new calendar issued by the city of Grand Forks will get a jump-start on February.
The recently issued City of Grand Forks 2010 Calendar is missing Sunday, Jan. 31.
City spokesman John Bernstrom says the error was noticed when boxes of the calendar printed by Fine Print of Grand Forks were opened before Christmas.
Bernstrom says if Jan. 31 had been a weekday in which there was garbage or recycling collection, the city would have issued a correction or public statement. Feb. 1 appears on the calendar as a Monday so the rest of the year is correct.
Fine Print President Kevin Kuntz says January is the coldest month of the year and having one day less works for him.
.
Boy's science project prompts school evacuation
Fire officials said a San Diego middle school was evacuated when a student's science project was mistaken for a bomb. Fire-Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque said a vice principal's concerns prompted the evacuation of Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School Friday afternoon. Luque said an arson team took photos and x-rays of the empty plastic bottle with wires and determined it was harmless.
Luque says the 11-year-old boy was trying to build a motion detector from instructions he found on the Internet and parts he bought online with help from his father. His parents did not realize that the object looked threatening.
He said the student was "a genius-type kid" who undertook the project on his own, had no intentions of hurting anyone or causing any disruptions.
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Monday, January 18, 2010
Are you ready to watch some football?
The average actual playing time of a 3 hour football game is a little over 10 minutes.
More replay action is shown than real football action.
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Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sandra Bullock Gives $1 Million to Haiti Relief
Sandra Bullock said Friday she donated $1 million toward Haitian earthquake relief, and Madonna announced she gave $250,000 toward the effort as celebrity aid continued to pour into the devastated country
Sandra Bullock said Friday she donated $1 million toward Haitian earthquake relief, and Madonna announced she gave $250,000 toward the effort as celebrity aid continued to pour into the devastated country.
Bullock's contribution went to Doctors Without Borders' emergency operations in Port-Au-Prince, where three of the organization's existing facilities were damaged by the magnitude 7.0 quake.
"I wanted to ensure that my donation would be used immediately to meet the needs of the Haitian people affected by this catastrophic event," said Bullock in a statement.
Madonna's gift was to Partners In Health, a longtime medical provider in Haiti.
"I urge all of my friends and fans around the world to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can," she said. "We must act now."
Earlier Friday, Not On Our Watch, an advocacy and grant making group founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt and others, donated $1 million to Partners in Health.
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Sandra Bullock said Friday she donated $1 million toward Haitian earthquake relief, and Madonna announced she gave $250,000 toward the effort as celebrity aid continued to pour into the devastated country.
Bullock's contribution went to Doctors Without Borders' emergency operations in Port-Au-Prince, where three of the organization's existing facilities were damaged by the magnitude 7.0 quake.
"I wanted to ensure that my donation would be used immediately to meet the needs of the Haitian people affected by this catastrophic event," said Bullock in a statement.
Madonna's gift was to Partners In Health, a longtime medical provider in Haiti.
"I urge all of my friends and fans around the world to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can," she said. "We must act now."
Earlier Friday, Not On Our Watch, an advocacy and grant making group founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt and others, donated $1 million to Partners in Health.
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The world's smallest man vs. the world's tallest man
The world's tallest man, 8 ft 1 in (246.5 cm) Sultan Kosen, welcomes the shortest man in the world, 2 ft 5.37 in (74.61 cm) He Pingping, to his native Turkey..
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