Talkster.com - Free international calling (ad-supported)
Oovoo.com - Free video conferencing (ad-supported)

For weeks, Clark has been receiving scattered calls from people who say they've received a new unsolicited credit card in the mail. The complaints stem from Citibank buying Macy's credit portfolio and mailing out MasterCards to some 3.5 million inactive accounts. This is outrageous, disgusting and it should be illegal, Clark says. Citi is contributing to account and ID theft by its behavior. A report in The Boston Globe states that Citi says they've received positive feedback from customers about these new cards. Citi also goes on to claim that they informed customers about how to decline these new cards, and that there are no privacy or security issues of concern. Lies, lies and more lies, according to Clark. What's really going on is that Macy's now has created another credit line for people -- also lowering your score, by the way -- by reducing the aging on your credit accounts and issuing you a new major credit card when you might not have wanted one. So if you get one of these pieces of trash in the mail, cut it up. And if you do other business with Citi, don't use their cards. This is the power the marketplace affords you to punish a company that has done the wrong thing.

How would you like to go in the store and buy meat that looks good yet is actually very old? Meat producers have figured out that by injecting packaging with carbon monoxide gas, they can make meat look perfect even way past its expiration date. Supermarkets have long wrestled with the problem of meat that looks spoiled even when it's good. But now that the processors have this new method, Clark thinks this is taking things one step too far. The Washington Post reports that there's also corruption at play here. Internal memos from the big meat handlers show that this process hasn't been proven safe. This, of course, embarrasses the FDA, which seems to be failing in its mission to protect consumers. Target is one retailer that sells meat that may be packaged with carbon monoxide. Target says it's looking at adding labels to the packaging that would disclose the treatment. But Clark says this is not enough. He still bristles at the idea of using carbon monoxide to make meat look good.

Years ago, Clark used a service called Freeway where he would call a toll-free number and earn free long distance calling time for listening to :10 ad spots. Hearing 1 ad got you 1 minute of talk time. Freeway, unfortunately, entered the Internet graveyard in early 2001. Today with cell phones and VoIP, nobody really expects to pay for long distance. But international calling is still very costly. So techies are buzzing about Talkster.com, a free ad-supported phone service. There's no registration necessary, and you can call internationally for nothing from any phone or computer. Talkster is also great for setting up free conference calls. The extended Howard clan has a family conference call about 6 or 8 times a year and everyone takes a turn paying for it. Next time it's Clark's turn, his relatives will be really sore at him because they'll have to listen to ads before getting on the line. But at least it won't cost Clark anything! On a related note, Oovoo.com offers free video conferencing, video messaging and all kinds of unusual techie things. Entrepreneurs are trying to adapt to expectations that everything should be free on the Internet. A lot of people are wondering how Talkster and Oovoo plan to make any real money. How long before they make it to the Internet graveyard? No one knows for sure, so ride the wave while it lasts!

If you're retired or over 50, you probably have nothing to worry about when it comes to Social Security. But people who are under 35 are more likely to believe in the dodo than Social Security. The math simply doesn't work out; there are not enough people to pay into the system to make it sustainable. Yet very few politicians are willing to say this to the American public. Fred Thompson is one who has. Thompson is proposing that Social Security be indexed to prices instead of wages. Right now, Social Security increases in lockstep with the average wage of the average worker. So this begs the question: Is the purpose of Social Security to keep people from starving or to give them a certain level of comfort in retirement? The truth is that we can only do the former. So why not offer young people mandatory private accounts instead of Social Security? Thompson thinks this should be voluntary. But Clark believes young people will voluntarily choose not to save if given the option. Then they'll still have to lean on the government in their golden years. Even though Thompson is running a lousy campaign, Clark salutes him for being one of the only candidates with the courage to tell the ugly truth about Social Security.

Speaking of campaigning, Clark was recently upset when The Washington Post reported that video production companies are shooting canned ads for the 2008 race. Template ads are already being used by law firms and some retailers. Each firm gets exclusivity in its own territory for the ads. But this latest report really shows that things have sunk to a new low. Politicians are taking advantage of you and your good nature by running fill-in-the-blank ads.