The Knucklehead of the Day award

Goes to Washington Post consumer writer Dan Oldenburg. In today's Post, Mr. Oldenburg wrote about how consumers can fight back against telemarketers.

"For quite a while, those annoying phone calls did not come in," says Charlotte Weill, a Silver Spring early registrant. "However, in the past two to three weeks, I have received four calls from businesses that I have never dealt with before."

That's not supposed to happen. Weill wonders if, maybe, she needs to renew her listing? Or, she asks, if those were illegal telemarketing calls, "what's the remedy?"

First, if Weill hasn't moved or changed her phone number, she doesn't need to renew yet. To keep telemarketers at bay, renewal is required every five years, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which operates the program with the Federal Communications Commission.

And while Weill says she's certain these were businesses calling, many consumers get confused about calls that are exempt from the restrictions. That's why, like it or not, you still hear from charities, political groups and pollsters. By law, they can call -- even during dinnertime.

Very true Mr. Oldenburg but your ignorance is showing. You are a consumer writer and you haven't heard of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991? That law signed by President Bush allows consumers to sue telemarketers in small claims court. You don't even make one mention of it in your article. I'm surprised how dumb the media can be sometimes, this is not the first instance I've seen of consumer reporters being totally ignorant of these laws.

For being a clueless consumer reporter, Don Oldenburg is today's Knucklehead of the Day.