You can't
make this stuff up.
Head-scratching headlines, spectacularly bad decisions, and the stories that make you ask: seriously?
Latest dispatches
The FTC says Doxo will pay $2.1 million over allegedly misleading bill-payment search ads, because even paying the electric bill needed a decoy website
The Federal Trade Commission says online bill-payment firm Doxo and two co-founders used search ads and websites that could mislead consumers into thinking they were pay…
READ STORY ↗Trump renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America,” because apparently a trade war needed a souvenir mug
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 27 directing the U.S. geographic naming service to use “Lake America” for Lake Ontario inside the United State…
READ STORY ↗Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to stop competing, so the FTC ordered Redfin to come back
The FTC says a proposed order unwinds key parts of Zillow and Redfin’s 2025 agreement, including Redfin’s exit from online rental advertising. Redfin must relaunch its r…
READ STORY ↗The national debt hit $40 trillion while Trump showed off the helipad and ballroom, because apparently the apocalypse needs curb appeal
The Associated Press reports that U.S. national debt crossed $40 trillion on August 20, the same news cycle in which President Trump gave reporters a tour of White House…
READ STORY ↗A 21-year-old made fake election polls to test the media, and the media helpfully tested the theory
The Guardian reports that Median Strategies published fabricated election polling in several states as a purported social experiment. The numbers were shared by campaign…
READ STORY ↗The FTC says scammers are mailing people cheap junk to fake product reviews, because apparently unsolicited toothpaste is now a marketing department
The FTC warns that an unexpected package may be part of a brushing scam: a seller sends a cheap item, uses the delivery to create a believable transaction, and posts a f…
READ STORY ↗Taiwan slowed its own mobile internet during war games, because apparently the emergency drill needed everyone to lose signal
Reuters and CNN report that Taiwan deliberately throttled mobile service across parts of the island to simulate communications disruption during an attack or natural dis…
READ STORY ↗A former Fauci adviser pleaded guilty to hiding federal records, because apparently “public” was an inconvenient email setting
AP reports that David Morens admitted conspiring to evade public-records laws and conceal government documents tied to COVID-19 research and grant discussions.
READ STORY ↗The FTC is asking whether companies should disclose personalized prices, because apparently the checkout page can now size you up like a casino
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comment on a proposed enforcement policy addressing personalized pricing, in which businesses use personal data to estimate what …
READ STORY ↗Disney sued the FCC over ABC’s licenses, because apparently the First Amendment now renews by performance review
Reuters and AP report that Disney and ABC are fighting an early FCC review of eight ABC station licenses after the agency challenged the network and investigated “The Vi…
READ STORY ↗Texas Tech is using AI to cut “left-leaning” content, because apparently the syllabus needed a political Roomba
The New York Times reports that Texas Tech University is using artificial intelligence to identify and remove or reduce content it considers left-leaning, raising questi…
READ STORY ↗Google made it easier for campaigns to send fundraising emails, because apparently your inbox needed a political timeshare
The New York Times reports that Google changed how political campaigns can send fundraising emails, potentially making it easier for messages to reach voters who did not…
READ STORY ↗A judge allowed limited testing for Trump’s plan to paint the Eisenhower Building white, because apparently architecture now needs a courtroom beta release
The New York Times reports that a judge allowed the administration to conduct limited testing connected to its plan to alter the Eisenhower Executive Office Building whi…
READ STORY ↗Trump secretly switched planes while Rubio and Bessent stayed on a decoy Air Force One, because apparently the cabinet needed a travel-themed magic trick
CBS News reports that Trump took a separate aircraft from Turkey while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained on the publicly ident…
READ STORY ↗Kansas town will pay $850,000 after police raided a newspaper, because apparently the First Amendment needed a settlement check
The town of Marion agreed to pay former Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn to end her federal lawsuit over a 2023 raid that authorities later said was not legall…
READ STORY ↗CBP records show workers allegedly used government databases to look up crushes, exes and coworkers, because apparently surveillance needed a dating feature
WIRED reviewed hundreds of internal allegations involving Customs and Border Protection employees and contractors accused of misusing sensitive law-enforcement data for …
READ STORY ↗DOJ says a network arranged more than 1,000 sham marriages, because apparently immigration paperwork needed a wedding planner
Prosecutors charged 11 people in what they describe as a decade-long, multimillion-dollar marriage-fraud network that staged ceremonies, coached applicants and charged u…
READ STORY ↗The FTC is sending Grubhub drivers and diners $23.8 million, because the app apparently delivered the bill to everyone else
The FTC says 640,038 drivers and diners will receive payments after alleging Grubhub made deceptive earnings claims and engaged in other misleading or unlawful conduct.
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