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Today's topics are "Best Of Clark" repeats from recent shows

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away…Star Wars came out. That was 1977. Remember how Luke Skywalker was living with his aunt on land that had its own power plant at the start of the film? That was a pretty clever idea for 30 years ago -- today people are doing the same thing by harnessing wind power. There are now companies that will install silently operating wind turbines at your home. Obviously, it's a great idea if you live in a windy area. The problems usually associated with wind power -- including the difficulty of capturing it in one area and then transmitting it to where it's needed without losing the power -- won't impact you if you generate it at home. The cost of installation could run you $10,000. But after you recoup your investment, the payback could be free power down the road. If you do choose to put up a turbine on your property, you'll probably hear from neighbors who say that it's an eyesore. Maybe people will start disguising their turbines as trees, much like some cell-phone towers are decorated. One thing's for sure: we should be building wind towers near where talk show hosts live. As Clark says, that's a great way to capture all the hot air!

If you're a longtime listener, you may know that Clark absolutely hates traffic and lengthy commuting. He's made the choice to live about 10 minutes away from where he works just to avoid it. But most average Americans live along a freeway at an exit where they can have the house and lifestyle they want, which usually means living in the suburbs. Yet commuting from a suburb to a city can be grueling. In fact, there's now a backlash against the suburban lifestyle. Call it the Death by Suburb phenomenon -- that's the title of a book and accompanying program that's been making its way around suburban churches. Clark believes the real angst of life in the 'burbs comes not from the distant location, but from the fact that many parents pack their kids' schedules too full. A little downtime for children is healthy, according to Clark; there's nothing wrong with unstructured free playtime. Kids are having the spontaneity drained from their lives with busy schedules that can include tae-kwan-do, sports, ballet, gymnastics and more. Stop and think about the treadmill you're putting your kids and yourself on when you have to run them around endlessly everywhere. Just some food for thought!

One scam that has become more sophisticated recently is the "pump and dump" scenario. In this scam, you will get a phone call, e-mail, letter, or fax offering you a tip about a hot stock. The tip is false! Many companies fall on hard times but fill out a public registration statement so that they can issue the stock to the people. They are worthless -- a "shell" company. Criminals will buy stock in such companies and put out false press releases, phone calls and e-mails about the investment opportunity. People will then buy this stock, and the price will rise. Then, the criminals sell their share for many more times what they paid. However, there was one "pump and dump" scam that was so over the top that the criminals got caught. In Florida, the criminals called and left voicemails around the country, pretending that the call was for someone else about an insider tip. So when you get information touting a hot stock, be on guard! You might just get scammed! Instead, Clark says you always have to do your homework and research a company thoroughly before investing.

An oldie and mostly baddie is back -- car leasing! Clark thought the practice had gone the way of the dinosaur since manufacturers, dealers and consumers all got burned by it. The question now is, "When does it make sense to lease a vehicle?" There are really two such situations. The first is when you're talking about luxury automobiles. Luxury brands don't want to give discounts and cheapen their image, so they do it in a hidden way by subsidizing the lease. BMW is a great example of this -- almost two-thirds of their vehicles are now leased. Jaguar and Audi are other luxury brands that are very into leasing. The other situation where leasing is OK is if you like new wheels all the time and you don't mind that depreciation is demolishing your wallet. Then leasing a new car every 24-36 months is understandable.

But be honest with yourself. Make sure your lease doesn't come with an exceedingly low mileage allowance and beware of excessive wear-and-tear assessments in the future. The average leased vehicle gets hit with wear-and-tear charges to the tune of just under $2,000. When you get a leased vehicle, you should take extensive photographs of the interior and exterior so there's no question when you return it in top shape. And if you do spill something in the car or tear the upholstery, fix it before returning the car. It will be one-fifth cheaper for you to pay to have it repaired. Finally, before you return the leased vehicle, make sure you've gotten a third party to do a thorough inspection of the car. This alone could save you up to $1,500 in unnecessary turn-in fees.