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Clark hates getting spam, like most people do. He uses a free mail service that diverts spam mail into a “Bulk Mail” account, and it does a pretty good job. But about 10 percent of the mail coming into his regular Inbox is still spam. What if you were blind? Many blind people use vocal e-mail services that say the messages out loud. They hear all kinds of inappropriate messages, and they are starting to give up on e-mail. Clark is happy to report that the biggest players in the e-mail world are working together to stop spam at the source. Right now, we focus on stopping spam once they’ve already arrived in our Inbox. But we should be concentrating on preventing spam from arriving in the first place. In addition, the government has decided to stay out of a “Do Not Spam” list. Clark is glad to hear this. The “spamsters” are not going to abide by laws anyway, so establishing legislation would do nothing. Coordination in the industry is what we need. When it comes to the e-mail phishing scams in particular, Visa, the BBB and the federal government are all working together to stop this crime. During summer, our natural patterns are disrupted. For instance, we may go months without looking at our bank statements over the summer. If a criminal gets a hold of your account information through these phishing e-mails and 60 days go by without you reporting it, you lose the money forever. The bank does not have to give the money back. So, check those statements

The Feds have had a real tough time trying to deal with the country’s energy issues. It’s not a knock on President Bush, but coming from the oil industry could be clouding his vision a bit. Every probe has been about where we can get more oil or more coal. But there are other solutions out there. To Clark, the answer is to be creative. In the West, for example, the Western Governor’s Association established the Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative. It’s made up of 17 states that are trying to use the sun to create solar energy and the wind to create turbine energy. The goal is to increase the amount of energy coming from alternative sources. The states are not saying they are not going to use coal and natural gas, but they also don’t want to be slaves to the Middle East. As a result, there is a gulf between how the western and the eastern states look at the future. Clark hopes the Western mentality wins out.

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What about diesel fuel? Volkswagen and Mercedes are both putting a big emphasis on diesel-fueled cars. These are very different than the first diesel cars in that they burn clean fuel and they get good gas mileage. Volkswagen has a Beetle and a Passat, which average 40 and 30 mph respectively. Look for these on the market.

Cars are the second biggest expense we have in our lives after our homes. You’ll hear Clark talk a lot about Consumer Reports when it comes to buying cars because the car advice they give is invaluable. A lesser-known source is J.D. Power & Associates, which also rates cars but on a smaller scale. J.D. Power has done surveys on initial car quality for years, and the surveys are always very informative. But the company also conducts a second survey that gets much less attention. It rates how well cars do after three years. After three years, things might start breaking on cars and you want to buy one that is reliable past three years. Well, the new data is out and it’s pretty shocking. The absolute worst car you can buy in terms of reliability and quality is Land Rover. People spend tons of money on these cars, but they’re definitely not worth it. The next three are Kia, Daewoo and Isuzu. An unlikely candidate, Volkswagen came in fifth. Other cars that got bad scores were Jaguar and Mercedes. So, who is the best? For the tenth consecutive year, Lexus was the most reliable car and no one else came close. Even better news is that second place goes to an American brand – Buick. It’s been a while since an American brand was on top. After Buick were Infinity, then Lincoln, Cadillac, Acura, Honda and Toyota.

Clark got fired up earlier this year when the Feds went after a college student who slipped past airport security with contraband, proving that our security system was severely lacking. Matt Heatwole planted items over and over again in airplanes as an example. He then contacted the FBI and told them what he was doing. He said he just wanted everyone to know there is a problem with airport security. He also met with security officials to tell them exactly how he snuck through security and gave them tips on what terrorists might try to do. But the feds threatened to put him jail for his actions. Clark thought that was ridiculous and spoke loudly about it. Well, now, despite a conviction in court, Matt is not going to prison. He will be on probation for a few years, but will be able to fly again. You could call it civil disobedience, but what he really did was bring embarrassing information forward about the FBI that will actually help our country.

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According to Tribune News Services, you can find cheap tickets on both discount and full fare airlines these days. In testing on multiple routes, people got the lower fare on the big six about half of the time. So, when you’re flying somewhere, don’t just check the discounters. Full fare airlines have bigger airplanes, so they may have more discounted seat available. Use multi-airline search engines like SideStep, Orbitz or Expedia to find the best fare. Today, discount airlines account for 30 percent of airlines in the country. If current trends continue, discount airlines will account for the majority airlines out there. Eventually, there will be no full fare airlines, and these big airlines are getting scared. US Air has been handing out Krispy Kreme donuts in Baltimore and Philadelphia to gain favor with passengers. They’ve also gone to a pricing system that mimics those of the discounters. The six full fare airlines will have to change their policies to stay afloat.

About 80 percent of people with Internet access still use a dial-up connection. The rest pay for high-speed Internet access through either the phone or cable company. Until now, the monopoly phone and cable companies have kept prices high for high-speed access, usually about $50 a month. As a result, many people say it’s just not worth it. But there is good news on the horizon, and it will happen in the next year or two. Verizon Wireless has established a high-speed network over its wireless phone system in a few cities. They will roll it out across the country by the end of the year. Sprint has just announced it will do the same thing. Sprint had no intention of rolling out its plan this year, but the company is worried about Verizon’s success. Cingular plans to join the bandwagon next year, as well. So, what will happen to price? Clark says $15 to $20 is a reasonable amount to charge, and eventually it will get down that low.

Clark has gotten some terrific feedback about cutouthunger.org. It’s the grocery shopping Web site created by Stephanie Nelson, the one-person machine who has started services in 22 states. The great thing about the site is that it not only helps consumers save money, but it also helps the lower income families receive food. She shows you how to get free samples, buy food the right way, and use coupons. The information is updated every week and is categorized by region of the country and supermarket. She will even send you e-mail messages with the best tips on how to save money every week. Check it out.