Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds

Here are ten of the best photos that readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or just plain neatness.

(#2 - photographynatalia)

(#3 - MY PINK SOAPBOX)

(#4 - Glyn Lowe Photoworks)

(#5 - Scott D. Rogers)

(#6 - C_Dubyaa)

(#7 - {Jk} qc)

(#8 - ChrisGoldNY)

(#9 - JoelZimmer)

(#10 - MY PINK SOAPBOX)

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click "Join Group?" up on the top right, and start hitting "send to group" on your individual photos you want to add to the pool.

Add your shots to The Consumerist Flickr Pool, and perhaps they'll be featured in a future story, or even highlighted in a Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds post. See previous winners of the Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool finds here.

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Where Has My Slow Fe Iron Supplement Gone?

Cheryl takes iron supplements. She has iron deficiency anemia, and the vast majority of iron supplements on the market make her ill. She’s come to rely on Slow-Fe, made by Novartis, to keep her iron levels up and her digestive system functioning. Then Slow-Fe disappeared. Her regular pharmacist can’t find any to order, and the only sources online are re-sellers with expired products. Remembering our past coverage of catastrophic OB tampon, Eggo waffle, and Morningstar veggie dog shortages, Cheryl wrote to us, asking for help. Could we help her figure out where her precious iron had gone?

She wrote:

I have iron defieciency anemia. If I take Slow-Fe, I don't have iron deficiency. If I try and take other iron supplements, I get sick (as in wake up at 3 am and run to the bathroom sick).

However, much like the Today Sponge and OB tampons, Slow-Fe appears to have vanished from the market without a ripple in the news media. My doctor doesn't know what happened. My pharmacist doesn't know and can't find any in the warehouses to order.

Amazon is selling it -- expired. From resellers.

Nothing on drugstore.com, wal-mart.com, or about 15 other sites I tried. They all say, "temporarily unavailable."

There's no recall that I can find, and Novartis has (ominously) removed the product from their website.

On behalf of millions of women with anemia and less than steel-clad intestines, help me Consumerist, you're my only hope!

We take the charge to locate missing products seriously. Alert readers might remember the name Novartis from yesterday's post about Excedrin shortages after January's recall. We contacted Novartis and they confirmed that Slow Fe is made in the same Nebraska facility that made the other missing meds. That facility suspended production in late 2011, and its products still aren't back on shelves.

Their statement:

Novartis OTC is conducting maintenance and improvements at our Lincoln, Nebraska facility which manufactures Slow Fe. As a result, we are experiencing a supply disruption at some retailers and Slow Fe may be temporarily unavailable. We are working as quickly as we can to return these products back to store shelves. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing our consumers, and appreciate their patience and loyalty.

Thanks, Novartis. For the sake of Cheryl and her fellow anemia sufferers, hope you're able to get the pills flowing again soon.

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Topshop Hops In Bed With Nordstrom To Bring Its Fashions To The Masses

Over in ye olde Europe, shoppers with an eye for trendy clothing are very familiar with Topshop, which is one step up from say, H&M, but not as expensive as a traditional luxury department store. But Americans have been going without the popular chain in most parts of the country, which is why it's teaming up with Nordstrom to bring its fashion offerings to the masses.

The two companies announced the joint effort, which will bring Topshop and Topman goods to 14 Nordstrom locations around the country starting September 10, as well as online.

"I felt Nordstrom, because they are not specifically in our market, was a good reason to go with them, to have a point of difference," Topshop's owner Philip Green told Reuters. "Their customers understand fashion. They just possibly have not had the newness and speed of product that we have, at a more affordable level."

Oh yes, affordability. We all know how Americans love fashion that seems a bit fancy but isn't outrageously expensive, as evidenced by the immense popularity of stores like Target offering designer goods on the cheap.

An average of 4,000 square feet will be devoted to the Topshop merchandise at each Nordstrom location, and the hope is that the the deal could progress "way beyond" 14 stores, adds Green.

Soon you could be wearing a purple denim jacket, just like those super cool mannequins. Imagine that.

Topshop forms joint venture with Nordstrom [Reuters]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

Duke Energy Kicks Out New CEO After 20 Minutes, Pays Him $45 Million

Two weeks ago, regulators approved the merger of two utility companies, Duke Energy and Progress Energy, both based in North Carolina. The merger of smaller Progress with larger Duke created the largest electric utility in the United States. Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson was approved as CEO of the merged company. It was all very corporate and mundane until the corporate intrigue started. Johnson was on the job for about twenty minutes before board members from the Duke side asked for his resignation, replacing him with Duke CEO Jim Rogers. Not that there’s any need to cry for Johnson: he’ll get $45 million for that twenty minutes of work, and for keeping his trap shut about why he was ousted.

One Progress board member wrote to the Wall Street Journal:

I do not believe that a single director of Progress would have voted for this transaction as structured with the knowledge that the CEO of Duke, Jim Rogers, would remain as the CEO of the combined company.

The switch attracted the attention of the North Carolina Attorney General as well as the North Carolina Utilities Commission. They want to know: who will pay for Johnson’s golden parachute? (Duke claims that investors, not customers, will pay) Who knew about the plan to ditch Johnson? Did Duke board members set out to deceive regulators, shareholders, and the Progress board?

NC hearing won’t resolve Duke Energy ‘quagmire’ over CEO switch [Business Journal]

Questions, outrage after Duke Energy's CEO exits [LA Times]

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

You Might Want To Skip Any Airline Not On This List Of Those Who Serve Free Booze

The good news is some very discerning minds have gone ahead and done the hard work of assembling a list of airlines that serve free alcohol on in economy class. The bad news is that you're mostly out of luck when it comes to flights in the U.S. Sigh.

There are fees for everything these days — from carrying on bags on some airlines to getting a window seat on others. It's good to know, then, that there are some airlines that won't mind giving you a nice little perk. Of course, you should drink responsibly no matter if you're paying for alcohol or not.

Travel blog Map Happy has a great, fairly comprehensive list outlining what seems to be almost every airline ever, including whether the carrier has free drinks on both domestic and international flights.

So far as U.S. airlines go: Delta has free beer and wine on International flights longer than six hours and American Airlines gives out beer and wine on flights between the U.S. and Europe, Asia and certain countries in South America.

Doesn't look like any carriers in our country serve free drinks on domestic flights, which isn't shocking. But as I've learned, you can always ask nicely with a smile and slip in that you have a crippling fear of flying. You never know when a kindly flight attendant will take pity on you.

Check out the source link for the complete list.

The Ultimate List of Airlines That Serve Free Alcohol [Map Happy]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

USDA Declares Natural Disaster Situations In 26 States Hit By Drought

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared a state of natural disaster in more than 1,000 counties spread across 26 states, as drought and fires have hit the country hard this season. That covers about a third of all the farmers in the country.

Bloomberg News says the USDA's declaration is aimed at helping those farmers by making them eligible for low-interest loans to help them weather the various disasters.

The USDA says it will also change procedures to allow disaster claims to be processed more quickly and lessen the penalty ranchers get for letting their animals graze on land set aside for conservation. The declaration is effective as of tomorrow.

“Agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation’s economy,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We need to be cognizant of the fact that drought and weather conditions have severely impacted farmers around the country.”

Moderate to extreme drought covers about 53% of the Midwest right now, where most of the country's crops are grown. That's boosting costs for companies who rely on those products as well, including McDonald's and Coca-Cola, among others.

Most of the Southwest is covered by the declaration as well, as an area that has been ravaged by wildfires recently.

The declaration covers counties in the following states: California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Delaware and Hawaii.

Disaster Declared In 26 States As Drought Sears U.S. [Bloomberg]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

Wells Fargo Receives $175 Million Slap On Wrist Over Discriminatory Loan Allegations

Three years after it began looking into allegations that Wells Fargo had systematically discriminated against minority loan applicants by pushing them into risky, high-cost subprime loans -- regardless of their qualifications -- the U.S. Dept. of Justice has come to a $175 million settlement with the bank.

$50 million of the settlement is to be set aside for direct down payment assistance to borrowers in communities identified by the DOJ as having both a large number of discrimination victims and which were hard hit by the housing crisis.

The remaining $125 million is to go to approximately 34,000 borrowers who received their mortgages through third-party mortgage brokers. For those victims of discrimination that got their subprime loan directly through Wells Fargo, the has agreed to conduct an internal review of its retail mortgage lending to identify these customers and compensate them accordingly. Compensation for this last group will be in addition to the $175 million.

The DOJ alleges that between 2004 and 2009, Wells Fargo's underwriting criteria pushed thousands of black and Hispanic borrowers into subprime loans when they were qualified for prime mortgages. An even larger number of minority borrowers were put into loans with higher fees and rates than those loans given to white borrowers with similar levels of risk.

“The department’s action makes clear that we will hold financial institutions accountable, including some of the nation’s largest, for lending discrimination,” said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole. “An applicant’s creditworthiness, and not the color of his or her skin, should determine what loans a borrower qualifies for. With today’s settlement, the federal government will ensure that African-American and Hispanic borrowers who were discriminated against will be entitled to compensation and borrowers in communities hit hard by this housing crisis will have an opportunity to access homeownership.”

A year ago, the bank's Wells Fargo Financial subsidiary was hit with an $85 million settlement over allegations of steering customers toward subprime loans.

In December 2010, Bank of America was smacked upside the head with a massive $335 bill for the alleged discriminatory behavior of Countrywide Financial.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist